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bobinaki

Listed below are comments made by bobinaki between Thursday, 1st January 2009 and Tuesday, 24th March 2009.

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Could Greece laser the euro? 04:30am on 24 Mar 2009 I am sorry I fail to understand why would Greece leave the Euro ? Going to what ? Drachma, a currency that (as quite rightly notis7 pinpointed) was historically extremely vulnerable to attacks from people like Soros, weak and the real "toilet" currency ? Greece needs a strong currency to pay off its debts not a feeble one. Anyone in Greece (bar the greek communists who believe that the Soviet era is the way forward) does not even think (let alone want) to leave the Euro a strong currency.
I am sorry for the UK eurosceptics but it will not happen so that they can say "I told you so". What will also not happen is for british sterling becoming a reserve currency as Euro is.

(A british expatriate)
Unhappy New Year? 12:11pm on 03 Jan 2009 One think is for sure. the EU without the UK would be much better off. What does the UK add to the proceedings after all? Her major export is after all the chavs roaming the touristic resorts and some eurosceptic MEPs that think stealing from the EU organisations they participate is a fair play.
Ring out the old 7:18pm on 01 Jan 2009 re #47:
Greece used to have the control of their Interest rates before 1999 and as I remember it the economy was in even worse situation with a massive debt and everyihing being extremely expensive let alone a runaway inflation which thanks to the fact that they had to comply to rules to be admitted into Euro they managed (like Italy and other poorer nations) to put their finances in order.
With regards to the unrest here I can tell you that Greeks have always been demonstrating both before and after Euro. There is fundamental difference now. Police killed a guy and that triggered violence from anarchists. Had this event not being there Greeks would still keep going on demonstrating without destroying and having loads of strikes pretty much in the same levels as before the introduction of the Euro.
Unhappy New Year? 7:03pm on 01 Jan 2009 StuartC re: #16.
That is exactly what I implied i.e. redistribution by a central Treasury of the money available which in this case the ECB is for the Euro. The financial stimulus plan you refer to is rather an EU thing not specific to the Euro like the coherence framework funding which small countries like Greece and poorer regions within the EU (e.g. the Merseyside in the UK) have benefitted from in various areas like infrastructure projects.
With regards to the last 10 years of the Euro that people keep calling "easy", do people recall what a bumpy start it had and yet it survived. The point is why the pound is not faring so well now in exactly the same crisis and Euro does? Most importantly why in the last 10 years when good old Eurosceptics kept saying every year that the Euro will fail in the subsequent year, quoting financial and political reasons, it did not happen. How come and they did not predict the Sterlings fall?
With regards to Greece and the Euro, I can tell you as an ex-pat leaving in this country that people are glad they hold a strong currency as they have nasty memories from the past when the good old drachma was devalued and made everything utterly expensive and their country vulnerable. Greece is not a big exporter (aside from tourism) to benefit massively from a devalued currency.
Unhappy New Year? 6:16pm on 01 Jan 2009 Re: 14:

I meant the trail #5 at the beginning of my comment
Unhappy New Year? 4:36pm on 01 Jan 2009 Re: #9. Precisely. In this crisis countries can resist better through cooperation and what better way than having a common currency backed by 3 of the G7 economies.
I keep reading about the interest rates and how in Euroland countries will never be able to be strong because they cannot set them separatrely. 10 years on the same argument and yet the same people don't mention the fact why Wales (for example) with an economy much differnt to that of say Greater London can have (and have been having for decades, centuries even) the same Interest rates but either failling. Well it is the same principle as in Euroland and the US and in India etc. and other big multi-stated countries: Interest rates is not the only tool for achieving economic stability. Administration of finances especially on the regional level has been working for centuries and this is why countries do not fall apart.
A last comment about Greece and the Euro. I mentioned on another comment in a different article that had Greece been outside the Euro and had been suffering a 30% drop of its currency (not an unlikely scenario) like the sterling did it would be bankrupt because it would not be able to repay all its debts. That is why Greeks are happy at the moment sticking to the Euro besides its main trading partner is the Euroland so it makes sense to have a stable exchange rate which keeps exporters and importers happy wether the market is up, down or sideways.

I suppose everyone realises (and has been mentioned previously by various people) that Interest rates are the same accross
Ring out the old 05:50am on 01 Jan 2009 Re: comment 43. I keep reading from people why Greece would be better off outside the Euro. I am an expat leaving in Greece and I can tell you everyone is glad that the currency is the Euro for had it been the old drachma is certai that it would be vulnerable in the current turmoil in the same way the Sweedish and Hungarian currencies have been (to name a few) let alone the sterling which has been devalued by 30%. A similar drop for a greek currency would be catastrophic given that it depends on imports a lot. So the Euro has helped the country a lot in weathering the storm.
With regards to the riots, for those that know about the Greeks they would say that they are not surprised given the fact that even before the crisis and long before the Euro anarchists were quite active and a number of times they have caused damages. The fact that there was an economic crisis aggrevated the situation. Nonetheless, just weekes after the events the city centre is business as usual, it has no traces of the events (within hours everything got repaired) and everyone here behaves as nothing happens and enjoys the good food in the festive days.
The EU membership has been a blessing in my opinon to Greece all these years and that is the reason even in this economic trumil the opinion polls still show a very high favour for the Euro here.

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