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u/af_0 Jan 26 '15
Maybe Germany will only focus on the greeks and forget the other countries :D
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u/coupdetaco Jan 26 '15
um about the yellow... are the greek countryballs sleeping in their own urine?
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Jan 26 '15
Wait! I thought this was polandball
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u/tungstencompton Jan 26 '15
Vote Golden Dawn! Metaxas aliv and well in Athens and would approve of Nazism except that one time he fought to the death against them and the fascists!
(What I'm trying to say is that their supporters have a very poor grasp of history.)
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u/hx87 Jan 26 '15
See, EU, this is what happens when you have monetary union without fiscal union. You can force the Greeks to starve, but you can't force them to reform their shitpile of a tax and regulatory system.
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u/ShadowRenegado Jan 27 '15
But if it was a fiscal union, the EU would basically be a United States of Europe.
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u/NappyDappy Jan 26 '15 edited Jan 26 '15
"Government and politics: The public sector suffers from substantial integrity gaps in both law and practice. Some public officials have acted without transparency or effective oversight for decades. As a result, there is a trend to demand and accept bribes. But these actions tend to go unpunished. A 2010 report indicates that only 2% of misbehaved civil servants are subject to disciplinary procedures.
Recent large scale corruption scandals also highlight the risk of conflicts of interest between public office and the private sector. Due to the volume of scandals, citizens’ distrust in public service has proliferated.
Tax evasion: A poor system of tax inspections, aided by an opaque tax code, allows individuals and companies to bribe inspectors and evade taxes. According to a 2011 survey, the cost of bribing tax inspectors to “arrange” tax audit activities is reported to range from €100 to €20,000. And estimates show that €120 billion may have been lost to illicit money from bribes and tax evasion in the first decade of 2000.
Private sector: The business sector’s complex legal and fiscal environment, excessive bureaucracy, and frequent policy changes create an atmosphere conducive to corruption. This in turn prevents effective competition, development and growth. Furthermore, while listed Athens Stock Exchange companies operate with reasonable corporate governance, non-listed firms function in a state of almost complete opacity."
http://www.transparency.org/country#GRC_Overview
If these three are not dealt properly there is no hope for the Greeks. The country is run like a 1950's Las Vegas mafia casino.
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u/OldBreed Jan 26 '15
€120 billion may have been lost to illicit money from bribes and tax evasion in the first decade of 2000.
In other words: Greece could be close to debt-free if they just managed their state properly.
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u/StugLife Jan 26 '15
If Greece were run like a Mafia casino it would make a minimal surplus to avoid unnessecary attention. Like the Nordics! Ever heard anything about their finances? Do you really think Oil made Norway rich?
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u/New_Katipunan Jan 26 '15
I'm totally on Greece's side on the whole FYROM thing (and the Elgin Marbles), but on this issue I can't help but think that their financial troubles are all their fault. Michael Lewis said it in "Boomerang", so it must be true.
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u/rindindin Jan 26 '15
If the Greeks starts working as hard as the Germans, made enough reforms, stopped corruption and changes so that they could fix the tax problem? Yeah, maybe then the Euros can start taking their words seriously about the whole debt thing.
That and Poland will launch a success mission to establish Mars colony before anyone else does AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
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u/xb70valkyrie Jan 26 '15
Greeks starts working as hard as the Germans
They'd be dead in four hours.
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u/Szwab Jan 26 '15
They already work more hours than anyone else in the EU
yes, I know working long hours does not necessarily mean working hard
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u/[deleted] Jan 26 '15
Call me a pessimist but let's just say I'll be very surprised if any tangible change will happen as a direct result of this election.
Disclaimer: there's nothing wrong with being lazy, you fucking social parasite.