Berlusconi's notes during the budget vote in parliament. One of the phrases he noted down was "I understand, I resign"
Occasionally there is a comment on ZH worth reading and this one is one of them.
The situation in Athens is bad (I haven't been around the rest of the country).The city is clearly in a depression. But what I keep telling people who ask me about it is one has to put the Great Depression into context. There were soup lines and bread kitchens and those are the images that time conjures up. But you also had some of the greatest clubs in the world operating like the Cotton Club. So although there is a depression in Greece it's not the equivalent of the end of the world or War of the Worlds type scenario.
When one walks through Athens about 20% to 25% of all business have shut down. There are empty shops left and right. If one goes out to nightclubs you notice that although people do go out they'll only buy a drink and slow sip it. Any business operating will tell you that even if they are profitable they've been massively hit by new taxes. Most business are owed massive amounts of money by customers. Crime has gone through the roof. Roberries, assaults, burglaries are up hundreds of percentages. In fact the only businesses reporting bumper profits in Greece are security companies. Crime is massively underreported in the statistics (who would've thought Greece would provide false statistics about its crime) but when watching the news or reading the paper the amount of circumstantial evidence of higher crime is overwhelming. Also stories from friends and family abound of victims of crime.
The real turning point was the 28th of September in Greece. The 28th is the equivalent of the 4th of July in the US. It's known as "NO" day, which is the day Greece refused to surrender to the Axis powers. Citizens were attacking politicians and blocking military parades in every city of the country except Athens. The Athenian city marching band performed with black ribbons on their instruments. Students walking in the parade in Athens would hold up black handkerchiefs when passing the politicians on the stands outside the parliament. Here is some video footage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azZzeIuOf3w&feature=related
So after the 28th my best guess is that all the politicians but especially Papandreou realized that they had completely lost legitimacy. The system no longer works in Greece. There is simply no light at the end of the tunnel for most people. You have to remember that Papandreou's government has been characterized by almost a split personality disorder. He got elected on the promise of "there is money out there". He kept repeating after each bail-out package that there wouldn't be anymore austerity, then he'd implement more austerity a month later. This has happened so repeatedly that the entire population thinks the man is incompetent. In the meantime since his reign began the Greek economy has shed over 300,000 private sector jobs. Sales tax has gone from 18% to 25%. The latest emergency tax, which was a 10% surcharge on monthly income and a property tax was included on people's ELECTRICITY BILLS!!! So if you didn't pay the tax they would shut off your electricity. It's just absolutely insane.
In the meantime the public sector hasn't shed a single-job. Now that the government is even considering cutting 30,000 public sector jobs by 2014 all hell is breaking loose on the streets again. So the situation is beyond insane. I actually agreed with Papandreou's referendum and the Greek people really should be asked "do you want to default or do you want more austerity". It is time for the people to make the responsible decision for themselves. And underlying a lot of the anger in Greece is the realization that despite all the austerity, the higher taxes, the firings, the constant riots, the rising crime, that more debt is still being added on and that there is no end in site. If you ask most people "will it be better ten years from now" they'll tell you no, it'll be worse.
Below a photo of what the Italian PM wrote.
Occasionally there is a comment on ZH worth reading and this one is one of them.
The situation in Athens is bad (I haven't been around the rest of the country).The city is clearly in a depression. But what I keep telling people who ask me about it is one has to put the Great Depression into context. There were soup lines and bread kitchens and those are the images that time conjures up. But you also had some of the greatest clubs in the world operating like the Cotton Club. So although there is a depression in Greece it's not the equivalent of the end of the world or War of the Worlds type scenario.
When one walks through Athens about 20% to 25% of all business have shut down. There are empty shops left and right. If one goes out to nightclubs you notice that although people do go out they'll only buy a drink and slow sip it. Any business operating will tell you that even if they are profitable they've been massively hit by new taxes. Most business are owed massive amounts of money by customers. Crime has gone through the roof. Roberries, assaults, burglaries are up hundreds of percentages. In fact the only businesses reporting bumper profits in Greece are security companies. Crime is massively underreported in the statistics (who would've thought Greece would provide false statistics about its crime) but when watching the news or reading the paper the amount of circumstantial evidence of higher crime is overwhelming. Also stories from friends and family abound of victims of crime.
The real turning point was the 28th of September in Greece. The 28th is the equivalent of the 4th of July in the US. It's known as "NO" day, which is the day Greece refused to surrender to the Axis powers. Citizens were attacking politicians and blocking military parades in every city of the country except Athens. The Athenian city marching band performed with black ribbons on their instruments. Students walking in the parade in Athens would hold up black handkerchiefs when passing the politicians on the stands outside the parliament. Here is some video footage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azZzeIuOf3w&feature=related
So after the 28th my best guess is that all the politicians but especially Papandreou realized that they had completely lost legitimacy. The system no longer works in Greece. There is simply no light at the end of the tunnel for most people. You have to remember that Papandreou's government has been characterized by almost a split personality disorder. He got elected on the promise of "there is money out there". He kept repeating after each bail-out package that there wouldn't be anymore austerity, then he'd implement more austerity a month later. This has happened so repeatedly that the entire population thinks the man is incompetent. In the meantime since his reign began the Greek economy has shed over 300,000 private sector jobs. Sales tax has gone from 18% to 25%. The latest emergency tax, which was a 10% surcharge on monthly income and a property tax was included on people's ELECTRICITY BILLS!!! So if you didn't pay the tax they would shut off your electricity. It's just absolutely insane.
In the meantime the public sector hasn't shed a single-job. Now that the government is even considering cutting 30,000 public sector jobs by 2014 all hell is breaking loose on the streets again. So the situation is beyond insane. I actually agreed with Papandreou's referendum and the Greek people really should be asked "do you want to default or do you want more austerity". It is time for the people to make the responsible decision for themselves. And underlying a lot of the anger in Greece is the realization that despite all the austerity, the higher taxes, the firings, the constant riots, the rising crime, that more debt is still being added on and that there is no end in site. If you ask most people "will it be better ten years from now" they'll tell you no, it'll be worse.
Below a photo of what the Italian PM wrote.
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