Greek Tragedy (conversation with Yanis Varoufakis) - "The HFSF salaries were € 18.000 per month [... - Polidicks

[url]http://yanisvaroufakis.eu/2015/08/03/9698/[/url] [QUOTE]“Our state apparatus had been contaminated by the Troika, very, very badly. Let me give you an example. There is something called the [B]Hellenic Financial Stability Facility[/B], which is an offshoot of the European Financial Stability Facility [EFSF]. [B]This is a fund that contained initially €50 billion – by the time I took over it was €11 billion – for the purpose of recapitalising the Greek banks[/B]. This is money that the taxpayers of Greece have borrowed for the purpose of bolstering the banks. I didn’t get to choose its CEO and [B]I didn’t get to have any impact on the way it ran its affairs vis-à-vis the Greek banks. The Greek people who had elected me had no control on how the money they had borrowed was going to be used.[/B] “I discovered at some point that [B]the law that constituted the EFSF allowed me one power, and that was to determine the salary of these people.[/B] I realised that the salaries of these functionaries were monstrous by Greek standards. In a country with so much hunger and where the minimum wage has fallen to €520 a month,[B] these people were making something like €18,000 a month.[/B] “So I decided, since I had the power, I would exercise that power. I used a really simple rule. Pensions and salaries have fallen by an average of 40% since the beginning of the crisis[B]. I issued a ministerial decree by which I reduced the salaries of these functionaries by 40%[/B]. Still a huge salary, still a huge salary. You know what happened? [B]I got a letter from the Troika, saying that my decision has been overruled as it was insufficiently explained. So in a country in which the Troika is insisting that people on a €300-a-month pension now live on €100, they were refusing my cost-cutting exercise, my ability as a minister of finance to curtail the salaries of these people.[/B]”[/QUOTE]

Holy shit, that's more than an middle class citizen in any poorer EU country makes in a [I]year[/I]. I'm very happy he shared this. People need to know. This is [B]not[/B] okay.

[QUOTE=wewt!;48373805]Holy shit, that's more than an middle class citizen in any poorer EU country makes in a [I]year[/I]. I'm very happy he shared this. People need to know. This is [B]not[/B] okay.[/QUOTE] Hence my stance on the idea of not getting them anymore money - they KNOW that since they are in EU they can get free monies to keep economy """"Stabilized"""", and they WILLINGLY do not decrease their profits on salaries and etc. They want to live by Germany's standards without working at all.

These guys make more in a month than I would make on minimum wage in a year while their country lies in financial ruin and they refuse to lower their wages. Choke on a fucking dick.

"I got a letter from the Troika, saying that my decision has been overruled as it was insufficiently explained" Well, if media can be trusted, then the greeks have sometimes only send one page of suggestions for meetings that were supposed to be hours long.

Let me guess, "some" of the HFSF was funneled into the pockets of Troika.

[QUOTE=OmniConsUme;48374125]Let me guess, "some" of the HFSF was funneled into the pockets of Troika.[/QUOTE] €18,000/mo per person salary is not "some"

[QUOTE=Dark RaveN;48373869]Hence my stance on the idea of not getting them anymore money - they KNOW that since they are in EU they can get free monies to keep economy """"Stabilized"""", and they WILLINGLY do not decrease their profits on salaries and etc. They want to live by Germany's standards without working at all.[/QUOTE] But you are missing the big picture, Germany is bludgening them to death with demands, and the bailouts are wholey disbursed by the troikia and mismanaged

[QUOTE=Sableye;48375789]But you are missing the big picture, Germany is bludgening them to death with demands, and the bailouts are wholey disbursed by the troikia and mismanaged[/QUOTE] Germany has his demands to prevent the money from disappearing again. The demands are just normal austerity measures Spain and Portugal had to deal with as well. The Greeks government are calling it outrageous however because these measures mean they cannot have crap like 18k/minth salary's anymore.

Cut off Greece from EU and the eurozone - they can rejoin if they quarter and hang the fucks behind this. I don't see things getting better unless the citizens make sure their votes actually mean something.

[QUOTE=nikomo;48379667]Cut off Greece from EU and the eurozone - they can rejoin if they quarter and hang the fucks behind this. I don't see things getting better unless the citizens make sure their votes actually mean something.[/QUOTE] Hopefully not in that order, would be quite a sight.

[QUOTE=nikomo;48379667]Cut off Greece from EU and the eurozone - they can rejoin if they quarter and hang the fucks behind this. I don't see things getting better unless the citizens make sure their votes actually mean something.[/QUOTE] Cutting Greece off the EU means the death of Greece itself as the Drahma (their initial currency prior EU) would plummet hard, resulting in higher debt. Also means EU loses another water-front.

[QUOTE=MiKaXsUs;48379795]Cutting Greece off the EU means the death of Greece itself as the Drahma (their initial currency prior EU) would plummet hard, resulting in higher debt. Also means EU loses another water-front.[/QUOTE] Pick up the scraps when the vultures are done. Get Greece at discount prices, sell some artifacts to musuems and private collectors to get a bit of money back.

[QUOTE=Kaelnukem;48380068]Pick up the scraps when the vultures are done. Get Greece at discount prices, sell some artifacts to musuems and private collectors to get a bit of money back.[/QUOTE] Truly would be the pinnacle of accomplishment for our country :v: (considering the shit state it's in).

18000€? Pfft I make nearly twice that... a year. I think in Greeces case you could be able to nab off an € or two off that.

[QUOTE=SgtTupelo;48380126]18000€? Pfft I make nearly twice that... a year. I think in Greeces case you could be able to nab off an € or two off that.[/QUOTE]Seems rather odd the troika would veto a cut in that salary. Greece's finances are clearly mismanaged, but the HFSF is specifically out of their control.

Germany is THE country in Europe who should not be doing this to Greece, purely because of our history. The loans we gave them have generated a lot of wealth for us already, that's not an attempt to save a country

[QUOTE=Antlerp;48381443]Germany is THE country in Europe who should not be doing this to Greece, purely because of our history. The loans we gave them have generated a lot of wealth for us already, that's not an attempt to save a country[/QUOTE] Especially with the level of imposed economic depression will almost certainly lead to some revolution in the coming years, the failure of the current Greek government to get debt write-offs, and instead continued along this path of death from 10000 cuts, will only lead to another even more reactionary government being elected, or god forbid a military coup

[QUOTE=Sableye;48381502]Especially with the level of imposed economic depression will almost certainly lead to some revolution in the coming years, the failure of the current Greek government to get debt write-offs, and instead continued along this path of death from 10000 cuts, will only lead to another even more reactionary government being elected, or god forbid a military coup[/QUOTE] That's what I'm afraid of... a competent modern Benito Mussolini rise to power...

[QUOTE=Sableye;48381502]Especially with the level of imposed economic depression will almost certainly lead to some revolution in the coming years, the failure of the current Greek government to get debt write-offs, and instead continued along this path of death from 10000 cuts, will only lead to another even more reactionary government being elected, or god forbid a military coup[/QUOTE] A military coup is impossible. With today's media, opposition to conservative govs and movilization of the population is greece, that's quite impossible. I think like you, the most probable case is a new government rising, being waaaay more extreme/far left or far right. In this case, I would bet my ass it would be far right, because people will now be dissapointed by the failure of Syriza to deliver. [QUOTE] Cutting Greece off the EU means the death of Greece itself as the Drahma (their initial currency prior EU) would plummet hard, resulting in higher debt. Also means EU loses another water-front. [/QUOTE] It wouldn't mean the death of Greece, on the contrary, a devaluation (Which they can't do right now as they don't have control over their monetary policy) of Greece will come in handy for a reboost of the economy. See, wages in dollar terms will fall, thus lowering the prices for local made goods, and this, in turn, makes it more competitive against the imported goods. It's basically what happened here in Argentina. We got stuck to the dollar for 10 years. We exploded, called in devaluation, inflation skyrocketed for 1 year with 40-50% annually and then bang, reactivation. Unemployment down to 7% from 25% in 4 years. EDIT:Of course, the price of the soy ton also skyrocketed just as we touched the bottom. It went from a couple tens of dollars to 400-500$ the ton in the international market. That's a lot of dollars coming in, good for buying outside capital goods and other stuff and cancelling debts.

[QUOTE=Sir Whoopsalot;48373891] Choke on a fucking dick.[/QUOTE] Hot.

The one economist who was actual intent on helping his country and was the right man for the job and he can do one thing what a fuckin shame

You guys should read the interview with him: [url]http://www.stern.de/politik/ausland/yanis-varoufakis-im-stern-interview--griechenlands-ex-finanzminister-ueber-wolfgang-schaeuble--schmutzige-tricks-und-das-ende-der-demokratie-6368972.html[/url]