Well go after them then you further the unemployment.. They need to tear up the European agreement on dept and break away form a gold standard currency to combat inflation, have a 1% surplus to their incoming revenue each year, privatise all public services, frack for gas, take back Cyprus.

Peter, if you “go after them” you’ll simply increase revenue. The super-rich do not create jobs, rather, they cost jobs by dodging taxes, sending their money overseas and creating speculative bubbles (like our own housing bubble). If you want an example of the behaviour of the super rich, look no further than Ireland’s own Quinn family, who (it appears) have been plundering the state to the tune of half a billion euro.
Job creators there, aren’t they?

Greece might have a military coup and constitution change if this fails.. Greece is minced meat..

In the case of sudden regime change of that sort could the new regime abdicate responsibility for the transgressions of the previous regime?

One can only shudder to think which muscles they’re contracting!

from the country which invented the democracy! This is the heritage of Karamanlis&Papandreu families to secure their dynasties over Greece for ages…

100% correct Rodger, dunno why the red thumbs, obviously the people who know absolutely nothing about the foundations of the Euro currency, it was a failed project from day one. The Germans knew it in 1997 but still went ahead with it because it gave them a weaker currency and a bigger market with no forex issues so therefore grew their economy. The Maastricht treaty held most of the same fiscal rules as this years fiscal compact and neither France or Germany were within these limits at the start of the Euro project and still are not.

I can see the benefits of Ireland being outside of the Euro.

However there’s one thing that all sides agree on, and it’s that if we pull out NOW, we face massive austerity and hardship in the short term.

I say stick with the Euro to get us through this crisis and then talk of Punt Nua at another time.

Problem is David currently we are facing long term austerity. What we need to ask is what is better a quick sharp short shock or ongoing austerity until the bailout for the banks has been payed off in 10 years or so. Look at Greece 4 years of austerity and it has been destroyed by the policies of the EU / ECB / IMF.

Let’s not forget that when this crisis subsides and it suits mainland Europe to push up interest rates we will have MASS default on mortgages with no control here. This is something that should be safeguarded now. Fix Interest rates for the life of mortgages for some security. If we don’t do something the mass default will again cripple the banks and state.

Dave. I think that we all agree that leaving the Euro will be hard medicine. Very hard. Given the sheer wall of cash that the EU/ECB is going to have to throw at the Euro banking system and the many insolvent states. It will run in to the trillions upon trillions. Spain alone will take 1.2trn over the next 18 months. It could be frozen out for years.

Add in Italy, Portugal, Cyprus, Ireland, Slovenia, all needing new bailouts. Every country in Europe, having massively under capitalized banks.

The Euro can only be saved by printing fresh money to save it. There is not even remotely enough cash in the currency zone as is.

We won’t leave the Euro voluntarily, but it very well might leave us. Germany and a core of 6 countries, might instead of getting the ECB to compensate/bailout countries for the strong currency, save them from debt might just use the printing to pave the way for people to leave the Euro. Maybe even the Germans and others with similar economies, with France and Belgium as a dead weight might leave the Euro, and let the Euro drop in value to a realistic value for the remainder.

Basically if the Euro stays for 17, it will be decades of stagnation for 7-8 countries, and massive costs in repeated bailouts and subsidies to everyone else. If it goes it could easily trip off a global depression and the only thing to stop that is the hope that the EU/ECB changes the thinking that has defined them for 30 years.

Won’t someone think of the children!?

Laughable isn’t it. This is wot the no side were on about. Dead cat bounce. Spain will need bailout which it will borrow from Italy etc. Italy will have to borrow the money from the markets at 7%to give to Spain who will then repay at 3% effectively forcing Italy into a bailout, its a feckin joke. Wot next? Seriously wot genius idea are the unelected technocrats gonna come up wit next? Beggars belief.

such a ‘burden sharing’?? covering bailout by bailout…I prefer unelected technocrats to elected populist idiots!

Hmmm, conundrum. Mustafa you prefer the closed door appointed policy makers to the elected politicians who are policy enforcers….I see ur point. Result: both as bad as each other, they are all morons. We are doomed.

Not so sure the EU can afford to cut Greece lose to be honest.

I think we can Kerry. It’s been priced in.

It might have been true last week that Greece could be left go, at the very least appeared so.

However if Greece threatens to go in a huff, or is told sod off after a Syriaza victory, it will blow the Euro sky high. As is, the Euro is looking more likely than not to break up.

If the Greeks are let go, then it will be with a debt write off and economic support for years to come. It might be actually used as a test case of letting countries unsuited to the Euro leave.

Syriaza know that a disorderly Greek exit, will mean that France and Germany will have to do a massive bank bailout sending their debt to worrying levels. People will see that German austerity is actually a way of hiding how massively exposed they are to the crisis.

I see the troika are still running the country Dave and we STILL haven’t got a deal on the promissory notes, but don’t worry, keep diverting attention away. As a member of Fine Gael is it not a bit odd that you are ignorant of electoral fact? When people voted in the 2009 european elections, they did not just vote for the main candidate, they also voted for the list of replacement candidates. Here’s Gay Mitchel’s list: 1. O’MUIRI, NAOISE, 2. O’CONNELL, GERRY, 3. BREEN, GERRY, 4. RICHMOND, NEALE, 5. KENNEDY, JOHN

If you don’t like this system, have your party not been in power and had ample time to change it, particularly all the free time you have now since you abandoned all your elections promises.