Jean-Luc Melenchon, the hard-left French presidential hopeful, will pledge to raise the minimum wage and restore the country’s retirement age to 60 when he launches his 2027 election programme on Saturday.
Jean-Luc Melenchon, the hard-left French presidential hopeful, will pledge to raise the minimum wage and restore the country’s retirement age to 60 when he launches his 2027 election programme on Saturday.
Greece defaulted because it spent so much more money than it had. They defaulted in 2012, then missed payments to the IMF in 2015. Europe then provided €256.6 billion in emergency loans, plus substantial debt relief and banking support.
To characterise this as the fault of Europe betrays a fundamental gap in your understanding of this entire event. No one is disputing that Greece continues to grapple with the problems it created. I was pointing out that it survived and is doing pretty well compared to most other examples of failed states in history.
I didn’t claim that the EU caused Greece’s decline, I claimed it should be ashamed of its inability to help Greece recover.
There’s a big difference between surviving and doing pretty well.
Greece isn’t a failed state.
Greece isn’t a failed state because of the support we gave them. Greece recovered very well compared to most other failed states in history. We gave them hundreds of billions and all kinds of other relief. We are very proud of the support we gave a failed state, and we’re happy to see Greece recover so well, comparatively. We are not responsible for their failure, and we are not responsible for their lack of growth. They made many poor decisions over many decades. We wish them the best, and we hope they continue to make better financial decisions in the future.
Greece wasn’t given “hundreds of billions” and wasn’t at risk of becoming a failed state.
Don’t claim to speak for the EU. You don’t represent anyone but yourself.
They couldn’t afford to pay nurses and doctors and firefighters and police and social benefits and all the other things a functioning state would do. That’s the definition of a failed state. They recovered because we are so generous. You don’t speak for the EU either. You speak for yourself.