On Thu, 26 Mar 2015 18:27:44 -0400, Ed Huntress
wrote:

snip
Without the
euro, they probably wouldn't have gotten a bailout.
/snip

While it is impossible to tell, in all likelihood if Greece
had not joined the EU and replaced the Drachma with the Euro
they would not have been able to dig themselves into such a
deep hole because of the "easy" money [which is the hardest
kind] this made available, and would not have needed a
bail-out, at least on the current scale, as Drachma
denominated debt could be "inflated away."

A quick examination of the historical record indicates far
too much big power meddling in internal Greek affairs, with
the republican form of government overturned several times
by the installation of a foreigner as monarch, or invasion.
The result seems to have been the layering upon layering of
regulations and regulators like barnacles on a ship.
http://tinyurl.com/nr3az9s

1st republic 1822-1832 ended when the great powers declared
Greece to be a monarchy and installed a German King. [to
insure debt repayment?]

2nd republic 1924-1935 ended when the republic was de
stabilized and the monarchy restored. [to insure debt
repayment?]

A provisional 3rd republic was destroyed in a vicious civil
war 1946-1949 backed by the UK when the monarchy was
reimposed after the German defeat in WW2, when the majority
of Greeks decided they wanted the rule of neither a King or
the Germans. http://tinyurl.com/6xqgz6 [to insure debt
repayment?]

The monarchy was again abolished in 1967 by a field grade
officer level revolt, which ruled until 1974 when the
current Republic was implemented. This has functioned
poorly, and the interests of the majority do not appear to
have been well represented.

The more populist Syriza (Coalition of the Radical Left)
party currently in power *MAY* be able to start the
reconstitution of the Greek government into something that
prioritizes the long-term well-being of the majority.
http://tinyurl.com/nmatn38
http://tinyurl.com/pmdoltg


--
Unka' George

"Gold is the money of kings,
silver is the money of gentlemen,
barter is the money of peasants,
but debt is the money of slaves"

-Norm Franz, "Money and Wealth in the New Millenium"