George Papandreou, Prime Minister of Greece, reported yesterday that talks between him and the opposition leaders failed, thus making it even more unlikely that Greece is going to get the additional 60 billion euros it seeks. For example, New Democracy Party leader, Antonis Samaris, refused to accept the latest calls for austerity to save Greece from default. He says that the only thing worth discussing is how to re-negotiate the bailout. He says about the current German plan, “We won’t pre-sign a policy that fatten the economy and destroys society.”
What is Greece’s beef? Most of the jobs are in the public sector. If the government sells off parts of what it controls to private companies, many are doomed to lose their jobs. The same thing with other austerity measures. Olli Rehn from the European Monetary Affairs Commission says that he expects Greece to tow the line like any other country (i.e. any other Northern European country). But he gets his answer from the Greek youths who on Friday held a protest outside the Greek Parliament building in imitation of their confederates in Spain. They are also answered by the public sector unions that are staging strikes to oppose the bailouts.
If Germany doesn’t figure out a way to deal with non-Germans in a multi-ethnic currency confederation they will lose out in their dreams of competing with the United States.