How Merkel Failed Greece and Europe

[DieChecker]

Horribly, German minimum wages is between 8.50 and 11.80 (depending on the job), in Greece it is 3.75.

3.75 Euros???? That seems extraordinarily low.

Definitely worth setting up industry there then, if you can get government tax incentives along with low wage workers.

3.75 is almost Mexico like wages. Lots of US companies have moved just over the border into Mexico to take advantage of the wage differences between nations.

[questionmark]

3.75 Euros???? That seems extraordinarily low.

Definitely worth setting up industry there then, if you can get government tax incentives along with low wage workers.

3.75 is almost Mexico like wages. Lots of US companies have moved just over the border into Mexico to take advantage of the wage differences between nations.

The problem is that good industry needs good trained personnel, and they don't come at 3.75, not even in Greece. The cheaper stuff can be made for a sack of rice a week in China.

[DieChecker]

The problem is that good industry needs good trained personnel, and they don't come at 3.75, not even in Greece. The cheaper stuff can be made for a sack of rice a week in China.

But if unemployment is 25% there must be a large pool of trainable candidates? They can't all be losers....

[Leonardo]

But if unemployment is 25% there must be a large pool of trainable candidates? They can't all be losers....

As qm has already intimated at, the workforce isn't the real (or the only) problem in Greece but Greece is to a large degree a victim of it's own, incredibly inefficient and overblown, bureaucracy. Foreign companies trying to set up in Greece as an investment would also fall foul of this, else they would already have seized the opportunity of a relatively large and low-paid pool of workers.

Greece's govt is it's own worst enemy.

[questionmark]

But if unemployment is 25% there must be a large pool of trainable candidates? They can't all be losers....

Oh, they are very sought after workers...just not in Greece. Any German company will employ a Greek... in Germany. And the reason is a incompetent beuro0cracy that seems to think it invented the red tape.

[stevewinn]

Looking at the Eurostat website, it shows the delusion is still alive and well in the EU Bunker, they predict from this year Greek Debt will decrease from €316 Billion to €285 Billion by 2020. and Yet they're to hand over a further €85 Billion in Bailout money to Greece. You couldn't make it up.

What we now need is the Euro to keep on devaluing to the point it causes deflation, the Eurozone as already flirted with deflation earlier in the year, a second bout would rack up the current debt levels for the rest of the eurozone, putting such countries as Spain, Ireland, Italy, Portugal on the brink, resulting in a death spiral for the Euro currency, bringing the whole damn edifice down in the process.

We can only keep our fingers crossed.

[questionmark]

Looking at the Eurostat website, it shows the delusion is still alive and well in the EU Bunker, they predict from this year Greek Debt will decrease from €316 Billion to €285 Billion by 2020. and Yet they're to hand over a further €85 Billion in Bailout money to Greece. You couldn't make it up.

What we now need is the Euro to keep on devaluing to the point it causes deflation, the Eurozone as already flirted with deflation earlier in the year, a second bout would rack up the current debt levels for the rest of the eurozone, putting such countries as Spain, Ireland, Italy, Portugal on the brink, resulting in a death spiral for the Euro currency, bringing the whole damn edifice down in the process.

We can only keep our fingers crossed.

And how can a devaluation cause deflation? All imported goods get more expensive.

[Gingitsune]

And how can a devaluation cause deflation? All imported goods get more expensive.

I wondering the same, surely devaluation will boost the Euro zone economy making their product more competitive on foreign markets while making imported goods price goes up. Both these phenomenon cause inflation. Deflation happens when a market stale.

[stevewinn]

I wondering the same, surely devaluation will boost the Euro zone economy making their product more competitive on foreign markets while making imported goods price goes up. Both these phenomenon cause inflation. Deflation happens when a market stale.

Its the complexity of the Eurozone and the economies within, are Greece not in Deflation.