Greece...again

Greece is in the news again, which is ok, I guess. They elected a new government, the “left-wing, anti-austerity Syriza party.” Apparently, the Grecian voters were tired of “right-wing, austerity?”

So now they are going to proceed to “spend their way to prosperity,” using somebody else’s money. Who do they think they are, California? The new leaders were elected to end the “Troika” era when the European Union and others came together to bail out Greece in return for sound fiscal policies. The Greek leaders are going to re-negotiate those demands. Apparently, they are like others we know who want the money but not the rules. Sort of like teenage girls where money and hot water are to be used until all gone.

No, Greece is not California. The Gross National Product of Greece is about the same as that of Missouri, and that’s a lot less. While we Americans may be a little ticked off if Missouri decided to collectively kick back on the shores of Lake of the Ozarks and forget about working or keeping a sound fiscal house, it wouldn’t make much of a ripple on the international economic ticker board. I know, there are a lot of differences, just sayin’.

This is when I yearn for my old subscription to “The London Economist.” Unlike everything I see today, the “Economist” tended to be ahead of the news, not behind it. They seemed to grasp the significance of events, not just the cosmetics. Getting a little tired of “If it bleeds, it leads” journalism.

For instance, I would like to see what is happening to two economies that have (to my knowledge) little or no oil production—Ireland and Japan. Ireland’s economy is similar in size to Greece, but it is also English speaking and has attracted a lot of foreign investment over the last couple of decades due to that fact and tax laws. Maybe tax laws speak more loudly? Nevermind, just interesting.

Japan, on the other hand, is a major world player. I see very little about the effect of significant economic events on Japan’s total economy, despite my assumption that a major economy has greedy needs for energy (like oil?) and tends to benefit from a strong dollar making their goods “cheaper” in the US market. Seems like folks such as Toyota might benefit from that? How about their shipping interests?

Still, it is a niggling thing that the Euro has dropped to under $1.10 (for a brief moment) and oil is on another downward jaunt. But the stock market is up.

Back to the drawing board.