ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A radical left-wing party vowing to end Greece's painful austerity program won a historic victory in Sunday's parliamentary elections, setting up a showdown with the country's international creditors that could shake the eurozone.
Alexis Tsipras, leader of the communist-rooted Syriza party, immediately promised to end the "five years of humiliation and pain" that Greece has endured since an international bailout saved it from bankruptcy in 2010. |
The party moderated its rhetoric to some extent prior to the election so there is some hope that they'd be more centrist than their reputation, and at present they have a plurality (though the final vote count could give them an outright majority). But this is arguably the biggest threat to the Eurozone as presently constituted in the last couple years. Greece could leverage a better deal out of the "troika" that handles its international finances or one or both parties may provoke a crisis. Interesting times.
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Venezuaela could have fared a lot better, I think, had they not had in power a skilled demagogue such as Chavez to help keep alive the illusion that living off of oil revenues was OK.
As much as the illusion of living off of oil revenues, the further illusion that your national oil company can provide for the nation when it is being run by a bunch of political henchmen.
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Falling oil prices and incompetent governance mean Venezuela might default on its debts, leaving major trading partners like Brazil holding the bag.
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I thought Greece was Europe's Venezuela?
No Coke! Pepsi.
but noone mentions that their military spending has been out of control for years
although Greece military spending was cut after the 2009 meltdown it was cut much less than social services
As a percentage of GDP Greek military spending is still double that of any other country in the EU
Indeed, over the past several months, the Greek media have written that Turkey violated Greek airspace at least once...
There is another political reason for exempting the army from cuts. Closing some of the 500 military bases and 17 training centers would mean sending tens of thousands of young soldiers into the ranks of the unemployed, adding a dangerous component to social unrest, according to Sipri, a Swedish research institute. Perhaps, analysts said, the Greek armed forces will have to wait for any major restructuring until the country’s economy picks up.
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