Cypriot "no" inspires Greeks to rail against austerity

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

Cypriot "no" inspires Greeks to rail against austerity

By Harry Papachristou
ATHENS | Wed Mar 20, 2013 11:14am EDT

(Reuters) - Greeks and opposition parties inspired by the Cypriot rejection of an unpopular bailout deal urged Athens on Wednesday to stand up to foreign lenders whose demands have resulted in repeated rounds of austerity that have made Greek life a misery.

Cyprus's parliament on Tuesday rejected a levy on bank deposits demanded in return for aid, raising the specter of a default for the island nation that could mean enduring wave after wave of spending cuts and tax rises, just like Greece.

"See what Cyprus did? We are proud of them," said Fey Papadopoulou, 22, a university student. "They should be an example for our politicians, who have succumbed to every demand."

Cyprus pleaded with Russia on Wednesday for a five-year extension and lower interest on an existing 2.5 billion euro ($3.22 billion) loan and 5 billion euros in new loans after voting down a euro zone plan for a 10 billion euro bailout.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/20/us-eurozone-cyprus-greece-heat-idUSBRE92J0QT20130320

[FreeJoe]

1. Let's see how this plays out

I agree that Cyrpus should have rejected the deal. They need to renegotiate one in which the 100,000 Euro deposit guarantee is respected. The problem is that without any sort of deal, the banks can't re-open. They'll almost certainly collapse if they do and then people will be worse off than if they had accepted the deal.

This is like tossing a drowning man barbed wire to pull him out of the ocean. He turned down the barbed wire because it was cruel and unnecessary. He's still drowning. Now he needs to hurry up and convince someone to throw him a better rescue rope.

Greece was/is in a similar situation. They didn't volunteer for austerity. They got into trouble and were essentially blackmailed into taking it. The question is, can they get a better deal? Saying no to the bailouts might be worse than the austerity.

[BlueStreak]

3. Why the 100,000 Euro cutoff?

ALL bank deposits should be secure. We don't want any bankster anywhere in the world to think that they can just start clipping their customer accounts by 10% whenever the banksters need some more money.

If there is a lot of dirty money in the Cyprus banks, than that should be prosecuted in the normal manner.

[FreeJoe]

4. Deposit Insurance

My reason for proposing the 100,000 Euro cutoff is because that is the amount that is supposed to be insured. It seems fair that if you have a group of wealthy people saving with the knowledge that they aren't insured and another group of people with less money being promised that their money is safe, when things get ugly, you should collect from the former group and not the latter.

As for not taking ANY of the money, I have mixed feelings. It would be nice if it wasn't necessary, but in this case it seems hard to avoid. The banks are broke. With no bailout, the depositors will lose much more money. Why should the rest of Europe bail out the Cypriot banksters?

[99Forever]

2. It's passed time for the entire World...

.. to stand up to these 1%er fucking crooks and bring them to justice.

Ain't gonna happen tho. We're "looking forward."

[socialist_n_TN]

5. Well I AM "looking forward"......

looking forward to standing up to these 1%er crooks and bringing them to justice. Someday.