Greece Spiraling Into Catastrophic Depression

The headline alone qualifies this article for blogger material.

Greece spiralling into catastrophic depression

Greece is expecting to agree the terms of European leaders for a rescue package this evening as the country seeks to avoid a default on its international debts. But Greeks fear that the cuts, imposed on them in return for a €130bn bailout, is sending the country spiralling into a catastrophic depression.

The Greek press is referring to the tough terms and the grudging and sceptical approach of eurozone leaders to giving Greece the money as “Chinese torture”. But, deep though the resentment is, few Greek leaders or even protesters have been able to propose an alternative to the agreement that, in addition to providing the €130bn loan, would reduce Greece’s debt to its private bondholders by €100bn.

The mood in Athens is a mixture of fatalism and gloom. Dmitris Kakomitas, a pensioner, said “My pension has fallen from €600 a month to €300. If I didn’t own my own house I’d have difficulty surviving.” He was standing across the street from three red fire engines that were keeping watch on the smouldering wreckage of a 19th century block of shops burned out by protesters last Sunday. He said he didn’t agree with what had happened, suspected criminals were involved, but added that “it wouldn’t be difficult to find an angry pensioner willing to throw a petrol bottle through a window of one of those shops.”

Many Greek politicians and economists have convincing ideas of what should be done to save the country. But, however correct their diagnosis of Greece’s problems, their solutions tend to be long or medium term and are not directed at how to avoid imminent disaster. Many commentators have horror stories about the excessive size and dysfunctional nature of the state with its hundreds of thousands of ill paid employees.

Most striking in Greece is the extent of the social disaster. “The middle class is being wiped out,” says Fotis Kouvelis, the leader of the newly formed Democratic Left party that is doing well in the polls. “Some 30 per cent of Greeks now live below the poverty line.” Though the state sector may be bloated, the safety net for the poor is limited.

Here;  http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/greece-spiralling-into-catastrophic-depression-6939037.html

Now go through this article and where you see the word "Greece"...replace it with "America".  When you see the word "pension"...replace it with "Social Security".  Are these going to be our headlines in another few years?

As we have said all along....everyone loves a good party.  It's the hangover and clean up that no one likes.  And with Washington D.C. proposing another $1.7 trillion budget deficit over the next year...it appears that America is still in the party mode...figuring that we will deal with the hangover....later.