Thw Greece Trap

The We're-Not-Europe Party The bill comes due for a life of fairness at the expense of growth.

Dan Henniger's WSJ article "The We're-Not-Europe Party" set me to thinking.  I bet that very few of us understand why Greece's financial collapse is important to us, or what caused it?   I've cobbled together a rudimentary package that will answer these questions in less than 20 minutes time.  (Note: As I grow older I am convinced that anything more than rudimentary becomes someone's self-serving excuse, so KISS is good). Let's begin, as did I,  with the video of Henniger's article (print edition is here). II “ The Greek Economy Explained Greece Hates Business If you want to understand the reason, as good a source as any is the annual World Bank "Doing Business" survey for 2010. The spark for this financial crisis has been decades of overspending and cooking of the public books, but the survey reveals the underlying causes of the Greek disease. In terms of overall ease of doing business, Greece comes in 109 out of 183 countries around the world. It is dead last among the 27 members of the European Union as well as the advanced economies in the OECD. You have to go up 30 slots to find the next worst EU performer, Italy. The U.S. ranks fourth and Singapore is first. Note: The way we're headed, California's "We're # 1" will become a national cry. ” III “ Greece's Financial Crisis Explained They're in the European Union (print edition here) ” IV “ Why the hell must we give Greece $50 Billion (that we borrowed from China to begin with?) We Don't While we root for Europe’s success, because a strong European economy benefits America, it’s worth nothing that the EU was created to be an economic competitor to the United States. Therefore, while it may be appropriate for the EU to pay for these bailouts, the same logic doesn't apply to America. President Obama should extricate the U.S. from the gathering storm of European bailouts which will only delay the fiscal reforms that are necessary for long-term recovery. Even at this late hour, the Obama administration has considerable power to stop the U.S. from going down this ruinous road. Under current IMF rules, the United States needs only one other IMF member to oppose the bailout to defeat it. Therefore, we are calling on President Obama to publicly oppose the $145 billion Greek bailout, and refuse to participate in any larger European bailout which may be forthcoming. [continue] ” Quiz Tomorrow