Greece owes what?

As you may have read or heard in the news, Greece has been under fierce attack these last few weeks. There is speculation about the country being bankrupt, and many potential "saviours" are getting ready to jump in at a profit, once they toy with us enough.
There is no doubt that consecutive Greek governements from 1974 onwards have borrowed money in order to offer the people social benefits and build their electorate clientelle. Most importantly in the 1990s people "in the know" earned huge amounts of money through the Stock Exchnage scandal, and more importantly from their work as in betweens between private companies and the Greek State.

 

(You think you have won, Herr Burda? Don't be so unashemedly pleased with yourself. Greeks will have the last laugh. We may pay for it, but we shall enjoy it!)

The German magazine Focus came out with the above shameful cover and the wording "Cheats in the European Family".The magazine asks why German people should be asked to bail Greece out of the crisis.

What the magazine "forgets" to mention is that most of Greece's "shameful" money went to the German arms industry, of which Greece is a loyal customer absorbing 13% of its production. German governments, however, did not support politically Greece, their fellow EU member, in her struggle against Turkish aggressiveness. Can you guess why? 

Moreover, German company Siemens is implicated in the largest scandal of the decade, the purchase of electronic equipment for the 2004 Olympics. Rumor has it that its people bribed several Greek officers and politicians in order to earn the huge bid.

 Last but not least, Germany owes Greece in war reparations 70 billion Euros. Isn't it time they pay us back?

As I said before, many dissatisfied partners and friends are rushing to offer their services. Some have good intentions. Another journalist in the Financial Times has yet another idea.

"...After recent precedents set in intellectual property cases in Europe and the US, it should not take a Socrates to establish Greece’s right to profit from those ideas. The rest of the world has been living rent-free off the innovations of the ancient Greeks for too long. They have been giving us gifts for centuries; now it is time to give something back.

Admittedly, some of the details may be a little complex, and careful, painstaking public administration has not been one of Greece’s greatest strengths, back to the days of Pericles and Cleon.

Still, those clever people at Goldman Sachs were a great help in coming up with ingenious financial solutions for Greece, and they will no doubt have the perfect plan to get it out of its current mess".

Read the full article here.

P.S.Greece's deficit is not worse than other countries.


Some figures taken from Frankfurter Algemeine Zeitung (German Newspaper): Total debt of Greece(GR) 179% GDP, Total debt (av.) of EU 175% GDP. Some other countries: Holland 234%, Ireland 222%, Belgium 219%, Spain 207%, Italy 197%. Ireland's external debt is 444% GDP (GR 89%). Japan's public debt was 135,4% GDP in 2000 and 197,2% in 2010 (GR 125% in 2010). Looks like everybody is in debt. So what is the purpose of this vicious attack?