EU debt crisis

Italian PM warns of breakup of EU. Probably a little pessimistic, but certainly alarming. Do you support the German strategy or do you side with Italy/Greece?

Aren't Greece and Italy the ones where labor laws allow eligibility to start collecting pension in their mid-50's? Life expectancies increase, while retirement happens earlier. They might be at the point now where the average worker spends more years of his/her life retired, than actually working. How can that be sustainable?

Aren't Greece and Italy the ones where labor laws allow eligibility to start collecting pension in their mid-50's? Life expectancies increase, while retirement happens earlier. They might be at the point now where the average worker spends more years of his/her life retired, than actually working. How can that be sustainable?

Oleg_Huzwog

uhhh the EU is such a mess right now.

It's a simple matter of making sure Europe doesn't take the rest of the world down with it.

[QUOTE="Oleg_Huzwog"]

Aren't Greece and Italy the ones where labor laws allow eligibility to start collecting pension in their mid-50's? Life expectancies increase, while retirement happens earlier. They might be at the point now where the average worker spends more years of his/her life retired, than actually working. How can that be sustainable?

AdamPA1006

[QUOTE="AdamPA1006"][QUOTE="Oleg_Huzwog"]

Aren't Greece and Italy the ones where labor laws allow eligibility to start collecting pension in their mid-50's? Life expectancies increase, while retirement happens earlier. They might be at the point now where the average worker spends more years of his/her life retired, than actually working. How can that be sustainable?

jointed

Margaret Thatcher warned of us of such an event,thank god she kept the sterling.

In the realm of words and discourse it is already divided or in the process of being split. The debt crisis was quickly transformed into a moral issue of indebted countries and not an economical issue. No wonder nothing is being made, all we have are ridiculous speculations and hopes. As Soros reminded, it's really emblematic that an old term, used to design non-important industrializing distant countries, is now being revived to describe southern Europe: periphery it is called now.

Now, I don't know much about anything about this, but, I'd say I am just going to side with Germany. Because they seem to have their **** together more than anyone else.

As a Brit, I'm just glad we aren't in the Euro. Single currency unions do not work.

It's a simple matter of making sure Europe doesn't take the rest of the world down with it.

Storm_Marine

If someone has the impression Greece is lazy and should get to work to get out of the crisis, you have been brainwashed by media as I have been almost. I just looked up the numbers and in Greece they work as long and as many hours as the rest in EU.

They are really pushing this idea that Greece is being lazy in the northwestern EU. It is basically in the newspapers every day. Are there messages in south EU about the north? I wonder what kind of lies they are spreading everywhere.

As a Brit, I'm just glad we aren't in the Euro. Single currency unions do not work.

KlepticGrooves

If someone has the impression Greece is lazy and should get to work to get out of the crisis, you have been brainwashed by media as I have been almost. I just looked up the numbers and in Greece they work as long and as many hours as the rest in EU.

They are really pushing this idea that Greece is being lazy in the northwestern EU. It is basically in the newspapers every day. Are there messages in south EU about the north? I wonder what kind of lies they are spreading everywhere.

KungfuKitten

From what little I know, if the Euro goes down, that means bad news for the world. l4dak47

As a Brit, I'm just glad we aren't in the Euro. Single currency unions do not work.

KlepticGrooves

[QUOTE="Storm_Marine"]

It's a simple matter of making sure Europe doesn't take the rest of the world down with it.

KungfuKitten

As for Greece being lazyu - that's not really the issue. It's more about how their system runs. Nobody pays taxes yet they have these huge government spending programs. People used to be able to retire at the age of 50 with basically full benefits. They had tons of public sector jobs that were redundant. Look at their train workers for example. Just didnt make sense. It's not that good social programs are bad, it's that poorly run social programs are bad.

[QUOTE="KungfuKitten"][QUOTE="Storm_Marine"]

It's a simple matter of making sure Europe doesn't take the rest of the world down with it.

sonicare

As for Greece being lazyu - that's not really the issue. It's more about how their system runs. Nobody pays taxes yet they have these huge government spending programs. People used to be able to retire at the age of 50 with basically full benefits. They had tons of public sector jobs that were redundant. Look at their train workers for example. Just didnt make sense. It's not that good social programs are bad, it's that poorly run social programs are bad.

[QUOTE="AdamPA1006"][QUOTE="Oleg_Huzwog"]

Aren't Greece and Italy the ones where labor laws allow eligibility to start collecting pension in their mid-50's? Life expectancies increase, while retirement happens earlier. They might be at the point now where the average worker spends more years of his/her life retired, than actually working. How can that be sustainable?

jointed

Sweden and Denmark are not in the Eurozone. Duh!

The threade should be renamed the Eurozone debt criris.

[QUOTE="GazaAli"][QUOTE="KlepticGrooves"]

As a Brit, I'm just glad we aren't in the Euro. Single currency unions do not work.

KungfuKitten

Margaret Thatcher warned of us of such an event,thank god she kept the sterling.

sexyweapons

Actually, it's Gordon Brown you need to thank. When he was Chancellor under Blair.

It's also lucky for the Euro that Britain didn't join. Britain is not in sound financial shape either, carrying levels of debt comparable to some of the most troubled eurozone countries. The 'city' has grown like a cancer, meanwhile the rest of the UK economy is a hollow shell.

As a Brit I cannot wait for the entire EU escapade to fall apart. Make it the free trade zone the EEC was supposed to be initally and leave it at that.

Aren't Greece and Italy the ones where labor laws allow eligibility to start collecting pension in their mid-50's? Life expectancies increase, while retirement happens earlier. They might be at the point now where the average worker spends more years of his/her life retired, than actually working. How can that be sustainable?

Oleg_Huzwog

As a Brit I cannot wait for the entire EU escapade to fall apart. Make it the free trade zone the EEC was supposed to be initally and leave it at that.

MattDistillery

If it's one thing we can take from the Euro crisis, it's:

Austerity measures during a bad economy doesn't work. /spain

[QUOTE="KungfuKitten"]

If someone has the impression Greece is lazy and should get to work to get out of the crisis, you have been brainwashed by media as I have been almost. I just looked up the numbers and in Greece they work as long and as many hours as the rest in EU.

They are really pushing this idea that Greece is being lazy in the northwestern EU. It is basically in the newspapers every day. Are there messages in south EU about the north? I wonder what kind of lies they are spreading everywhere.

GazaAli

[QUOTE="Oleg_Huzwog"]

Aren't Greece and Italy the ones where labor laws allow eligibility to start collecting pension in their mid-50's? Life expectancies increase, while retirement happens earlier. They might be at the point now where the average worker spends more years of his/her life retired, than actually working. How can that be sustainable?

lancea34

[QUOTE="GazaAli"][QUOTE="KungfuKitten"]

If someone has the impression Greece is lazy and should get to work to get out of the crisis, you have been brainwashed by media as I have been almost. I just looked up the numbers and in Greece they work as long and as many hours as the rest in EU.

They are really pushing this idea that Greece is being lazy in the northwestern EU. It is basically in the newspapers every day. Are there messages in south EU about the north? I wonder what kind of lies they are spreading everywhere.

DrTrafalgarLaw

[QUOTE="MattDistillery"]

As a Brit I cannot wait for the entire EU escapade to fall apart. Make it the free trade zone the EEC was supposed to be initally and leave it at that.

GazaAli

Because it's a stupid broken system that should die sooner rather than later.

And no, I'm not saying that some aspects of it aren't good.

Aren't Greece and Italy the ones where labor laws allow eligibility to start collecting pension in their mid-50's? Life expectancies increase, while retirement happens earlier. They might be at the point now where the average worker spends more years of his/her life retired, than actually working. How can that be sustainable?

Oleg_Huzwog

It's hard for me to see how the EU survives this. -Sun_Tzu-

[QUOTE="-Sun_Tzu-"]It's hard for me to see how the EU survives this. DrTrafalgarLaw

The world Ecomony is in a very rocky place. The EU has major issue that was a long time coming, we you have all these countries together, someone is going to screw up. Greece was small enough were a total colpase could be sucked up by the other countries. But with Italty and Spain being the 3 and 4 largest GDP's in the Euro Zone, making up around 2.5 trillion dollars about a 1/6 of the Euro GDP, Europe is going to hell in a hand basket, along with the rest of the world.

Unless something is fixed in this global problem shortly i hate to see it but i would expect another depression like the one in the early 20th century. I feel its impossible to be as serve but i only see it getting worse before it gets better. And with the US facing a debt crisis of its own, no one can tell how bad it will get

[QUOTE="DrTrafalgarLaw"][QUOTE="-Sun_Tzu-"]It's hard for me to see how the EU survives this. Chicken453

It's a simple matter of making sure Europe doesn't take the rest of the world down with it.

Storm_Marine

[QUOTE="Storm_Marine"]

It's a simple matter of making sure Europe doesn't take the rest of the world down with it.

TheWalkingGhost

Why?

[QUOTE="TheWalkingGhost"][QUOTE="Storm_Marine"]

It's a simple matter of making sure Europe doesn't take the rest of the world down with it.

GreySeal9

Why?