Ivan Ivanov reports from Athens: So, the Greek government, acting on instructions from Brussels and Berlin, has pushed the austerity package for 2013 through parliament that was approved, as we now know, by a ‘comfortable majority’.
Greek MPs, who are obviously not affected by all these cuts in public spending, didn’t need much convincing. Every new austerity measure approved means all those lovely bailout euros flooding into the country, with all the usual benefits for politicians.
But there’s one thing that the unelected Eurocrats and politicians in Berlin are missing: savage austerity always has a side-effect, like any strong medication. And in this case it’s the black market that gets a boost once the government starts to avoid its direct obligations to pay people in the public sector proper salaries and cuts welfare.
Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, who was a fervent member in the Free German Youth movement in her younger days in East Germany, may recall what happened in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union where communist regimes could not provide their citizens with consumer goods while paying very low salaries. Currently licensed lenders in Europe are ripping off millions of people by saddling them with huge interest rates on their loans. These loan sharks force people to take drastic measures to avoid losing their homes and possessions. A post made earlier today over on Stirring Trouble Internationally - A humorous take on news and current affairs.
