Courtesy of Mish.
The soap opera in Greece continues with Germany and France tugging on opposite sides of the rope, and support for Golden Dawn, an alleged neo-Nazi party rising in the wake.
French president François Hollande is on the sidelines, not wanting another battle with German chancellor Angela Merkel who has her own set of problems.
However, the French Prime Minister says Give Greece More Time.
Jean-Marc Ayrault, the prime minister, taking a clear swipe at those in Germany insisting on a hard line against Athens, warned that a Greek exit from the eurozone would be “unmanageable” and could be “the beginning of the end of the European project”.
Speaking in an interview with the French news website Mediapart, Mr Ayrault said: “We can already offer [Greece] more time . . . on the condition that Greece is sincere in its commitment to reform, especially tax reform.”
France’s chief fear is that a compounding of the eurozone crisis would turn the spotlight of the financial markets on itself and the country’s public debt, which is set to exceed 90 per cent of GDP.
France Set to Implode
France wants to give Greece more time because it needs more time. Of course France will not admit that, instead insisting it will meet its deficit targets, primarily by hiking taxes.
Forget about it. France has no chance of meeting its deficit reduction targets because ridiculous tax hikes in the middle of a recession, while simultaneously making it harder for businesses to fire workers are exactly the wrong things to do.
Instead of meeting its targets, I propose Hollande’s policies have made it highly likely France is poised to implode. It should not take more than a few months, if that.
Troika Soap Opera
Please consider Paris focuses on Athens’ Achilles heel
Greek media have called the negotiations – which have seen late-night sessions at the finance ministry and departures at short notice of senior EU and IMF officials – the “troika soap opera”.
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