Euro Demands

I thought I was joking when I said that Greece was to become a colony of Germany. It seems not. This list of Euro demands is what one imposes on a defeated enemy.

Krugman continues his rant against Merkel:

Suppose you consider Tsipras an incompetent twerp. Suppose you dearly want to see Syriza out of power. Suppose, even, that you welcome the prospect of pushing those annoying Greeks out of the euro.

Even if all of that is true, this Eurogroup list of demands is madness. The trending hashtag ThisIsACoup is exactly right. This goes beyond harsh into pure vindictiveness, complete destruction of national sovereignty, and no hope of relief. It is, presumably, meant to be an offer Greece can’t accept; but even so, it’s a grotesque betrayal of everything the European project was supposed to stand for.

Can anything pull Europe back from the brink? Word is that Mario Draghi is trying to reintroduce some sanity, that Hollande is finally showing a bit of the pushback against German morality-play economics that he so signally failed to supply in the past. But much of the damage has already been done. Who will ever trust Germany’s good intentions after this?

About Krugman's first supposition. The usual nutjobs don't consider Tsipras an incompetent twerp - they consider him the reincarnation of Joe Stalin. Or maybe they aren't really quite that nuts but just want some justification for their own sadistic impulses. Whatever it is that impels so many who get some money to wish evil on everybody less fortunate.

About his last question, I won't comment - at least not yet.

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