Saknar du också en enkel introduktion till Greklands finanskris? I en serie inlägg som publiceras här på bloggen diskuteras många av de frågor och påstående som Greklandskrisen givit upphov till. Vanliga påstående granskas och sätts i sitt sammanhang. Texterna är hämtade från «Sell your islands, you bankrupt Greeks»: 20 popular fallacies concerning the debt crisis, utgiven av Rosa Luxemburgstiftelsen. Texten utgår från Tysklands roll, men mycket av det som förekommer i den tyska diskussionen har förekommit i svensk press också.
«WE WANT TO BE FRIENDS WITH THE GREEKS»(1)
Friendship is a feeling between people, not a defining factor in the relationship between political apparatuses. Of course, one often speaks figuratively of «befriended» states. However, this refers less to bonds of friendship and has more to do with the shared interests pursued by some states. The interest that Greece and Germany share in this case can be found pretty fast: it is the joint currency, the Euro. However, while Athens has to prevent its economy from collapsing, the German government is trying to get out of the Greek problem as inexpensively as possible. When it comes to money, friendship goes out the window.
«YOU SHOULD HELP YOUR FRIENDS – BUT NOT BAIL THEM OUT»
The facts: 15 May 2011, Sunday evening, talk show on German television with Anne Will, the subject: «Billions for the poor Euro wretches – is the government risking our money?». The programme starts of by questioning people on the street. The following questions are asked: «Would you help your neighbours or friends if they were in a financial mess?» Most of those questioned answered: «Yes». The answer to the next question «Would you also offer them collateral for a loan?» however is mostly «No». This takes the viewers to the evening’s main question: «Should politicians be allowed to do something we would never do in our private life, that is, provide large scale collateral for loans taken out by others?» From 2013, Germany will provide almost 168 billion euros in guarantees and almost 22 billion in cash injections as part of the long-term European Stability Mechanism (ESM); the sums are to be paid in gradually between 2013 and 2017.
Context: «We» Germans should therefore not give guarantees for the Greeks. And yet «we» are constantly giving guarantees, without anyone asking us if we want to. For example, for the domestic financial institutions. This was shown by the last financial crisis: when the credit rating of the German banks was in danger, the public authorities jumped in with aid and guarantees. While the German share in the financial aid to Greece has been approx. 22.4 billion euros to date, the aid given to the German banks was significantly higher. According to the German Bundesbank, the support given to the financial sector alone in 2010 increased the national debt by 241 billion euros (2).
(1) BILD newspaper, 5.3.2010
(2) Bundesbankpressrelease,13.4.2011
Engelsk text: Stephan Kaufmann: «Sell your islands, you bankrupt Greeks»: 20 popular fallacies concerning the debt crisis, utgiven av Rosa Luxemburgstiftelsen. Sid 17
Greklands kris är en kris för hela Euro-samarbetet. Om valutan ska vara stabil förutsätter det att de länder Euron vilar på också är stabila. Därför påverkar utvecklingen i Grekland framtiden för hela Euro-samarbetet. Ovanstående text fokuserar på Tysklands roll som är den största aktören inom EMU. Men alla länder inom EMU tvingas ta ställning till hur krisen ska lösas och det finns flera alternativ. Om detta har Erik Bengtsson, skrivet två omfattande inlägg: Grekisk hjärngympa och uppföljande Mer om Europas kris här på bloggen.
