Stuck between a moussaka and a hard frickadelle

Own Goal or levelling the score?

This has been going on for so long I'm getting a thumping headache from the endless to-ing and fro-ing. Heartily sick of it, actually.

It must be the Greek way to live in an endless stat of chaos, where tomorrow will look after itself and yesterday is something to be talked about and analysed "ad nauseam" !

Anglo Saxon observers outside the European Union may be regarding this as the Armageddon of policies and high minded but impractical ideals where it all  unravels...at last!

From the sides there is the deafening sound of silence as fellow members of the basket case coterie, Spain, Italy and Portugal watch the endless procession of concerned dignitaries and ministers traipse between  EU member countries.

When will it all end? Hopefully soon and peacefully; peace after all was one of the prime objectives of the Union.

Inexplicology

Oppa!

A 'ferocious energy'

The current situation with Greece and the Eurozone members is intricate in many ways. Economically, Greece has a  credit history riddled with defaults.

.According to Matthew Lynn, a freelance columnist who has contributed to the Spectator, the Hellenic Mediterranean paradise, since its formation  in 1821 has defaulted four times .
In the post-war years Greece barely managed to catch up with the industrialised Europe. Cut off by the Carpathian mountains it was far removed from the mainstream of European culture and science. After the Nazi occupation, it endured a civil was followed buy the rule of the Colonels who, true Luddites to the core, resisted change and modernity.
Ash Omar, a journalist of Greek background, living in San Francisco wrote an analysis of the Greek character.In it she states that Greeks have a ferocious energy and being night owls ( the owl is the symbol of Athens) will bargain until the sun goes down or up.
Gregory of Nyssa, venerated as a saint ,  wrote of Athenians in the 4th century, "if you ask someone to give you change, they philosophise,if you enquire about the price of a loaf, they theologise,if you ask 'ís my bath ready?' they dispute doctrine with you. 
Given the sometimes pedantic nature of institutions , it is clear that the confrontation between new Europe and old Greece will be hard to resolve in a convenient way . But then again, they don't call Economics the 'miserable science' for nothing.
For an in-depth look see the links below:

http://www.historytoday.com/matthew-lynn/greek-economics-drachmas-debt-and-dionysius

http://thisismyhappyplace.net/2011/10/04/the-greek-personality-an-urban-study-of-a-people/

It's all Greek

In July 2012, the European Central Bank's president, Mario Draghi promised to do "whatever it takes" to stabilise the Euro. Since then the fears of a Euro break up have receded into the background. That is until now.


For some reason the current Greek government under Mr Samaros decided to bring forward the presidential election to later this month. The Presidency is a largely ceremonial role but if Samaros cannot get enough votes for his candidate Stavros Dimas, a general election will follow. It seems likely, fingers crossed for the Euro, that Mr Dimas will win the vote. However the uncertainty  ( and investors hate surprises unless they pop , buck naked , out of cakes ) has roiled the Euro .

In case there is  general election ,polls suggest that Alexis Tsipras, the populist party leader would win. Although he professes to he would like to remain in the Eurozone , Tsipras  is making promises on public spending and austerity measures that would make it hard for him to keep his aims intact.

The potential and political fall out from the GFC in 2007, made any alternatives to the Euro "scary biscuits"and most preferred to stick with austerity rather than risking meeting the devil they didn't know. Now that the world has not ended and the affected economies appear to be stable, although painfully slow and sluggish, the political risks seem less perilous. The inertia of Europe, economically, is a problem that is current and perhaps more urgent.

There are disgruntled murmurings within EU ranks over still  current austerity measures and apart from the discontent within the  PIGS (Portugal,Italy,Greece and Spain) there are also signs of ferment in France and Germany while the Anglo Saxon Press take pot shots at the "smudgy amalgam of European Politics" to quote Churchill.

It would seem that the nightmarish thrills that turn on business tycoons before they go to sleep is still around but being optimistic, the jitters

does present traders with "opportunities" to earn some extra moolah.

ΏΠΑ!