The Troika’s Policy in Greece: Rob the Greek people and give the money to private banks, the ECB, the IMF and the dominant States of the Eurozone
On
20 August 2018, the Greek government of Alexis Tsipras, the IMF and
the European leaders celebrated the end of the Third Memorandum.
On
this occasion, the major media and those in power spread the
following message: Greece has regained its freedom, its economy is
improving, unemployment is on the decline, Europe has lent Greece 300
billion and the Greeks will have to start repaying that debt in 2022
or in 2032.
The
main claims are completely unfounded as Greece remains under the
control of its creditors. In compliance with the accords that the
Alexis Tsipras government signed, the country must imperatively
achieve a primary budgetary surplus of 3.5% which will force it to
continue brutal policies of reduction of public spending in the
social sector and in investment. Contrary to the dominant message
that Greece will not begin to repay its debt until some time in the
future, it should be clearly understood that Greece has been repaying
considerable amounts constantly all along to the ECB, the IMF and to
private creditors, and this prevents it from responding to the needs
of its population.
by
Eric Toussaint
Part
7 - As early as 2010 an alternative was both possible and necessary
Following
their winning the 2009 elections thanks to a campaign during which
they denounced the neoliberal policies of New Democracy, the
Papandreou government would have had to socialize the banking sector
by organizing an orderly failure of the banks and protecting
depositors.
Several
historical examples demonstrate that organizing such a failure and
then starting up financial services again to operate in the interests
of the population would have been quite possible. They should have
taken the example of what had been done in Iceland since 2008 and in
Sweden and Norway in the 1990s.
Instead,
Papandreou chose to follow the scandalous and catastrophic example of
the Irish government, which bailed out the bankers in 2008 and in
September 2010 agreed to a European aid plan that had dramatic
consequences for Ireland’s people. When in fact what was needed was
to go even further than Iceland and Sweden and completely and
permanently socialize the financial sector.
The
foreign banks and big private Greek shareholders should have been
made to bear the losses stemming from resolving the banking crisis
and those responsible for the banking disaster should have been
prosecuted. That would have allowed Greece to avoid the successive
Memoranda that have subjected the Greek people to a dramatic
humanitarian crisis and to humiliation, without any of it resulting
in truly cleaning up the Greek banking system.
Papandreou
should also have launched an audit of the debt with citizens’
participation to determine who was responsible for the increase of
the public debt and question the need to repay debts that are
identified as illegitimate, illegal, unsustainable and/or odious.
This is what a powerful popular movement had started to demand from
end 2010 and beginning 2011.
He
should have implement a large-scale programme of structural changes,
especially in terms of taxation. He should have taken concrete
measures to reduce the private debts of low-income households and
small enterprises, which employed a majority of workers.
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