Thomas Piketty: “Germany has never repaid.” https://medium.com/@gavinschalliol/thomas-piketty-germany-has-never-repaid-7b5e7add6fff
WoW! What a different point of view that is than what's been coming out of France and Germany. Thank you, JamesL, very, very much for posting that interview with Die Zeit.
ZEIT: So you’re telling us that the German Wirtschaftswunder [“economic miracle”] was based on the same kind of debt relief that we deny Greece today? Piketty: Exactly. It has one wonder in which circles the guy is considered a genius. Compare (and almost equal) post world war 2 Germany with a state failing despite 70 years of peace in Europe. I'm holding my breath for the economic miracle coming out of Greece any time soon
Actually there's only one country in Europe that defaulted more than Greece: Germany defaulted 8 times all together, the Greeks defaulted 5 times.
Piketty .What are you talking about? Generous? Currently, Germany is profiting from Greece as it extends loans at comparatively high interest rates. Lol, really ? Are the loans extended to Greece even remotely expensive enough considering the risk of delinquency from Greece ?
Amazing though how the world is changing, mediterranean countries have dominated the western and middle eastern worlds for centuries but they are now relegated to the bottom of even Europe . As a mediterranean I feel no pride in stating this but the times of dominant Greece, italy, Spain and Portugal are long gone. Greece even longer gone than the other countries mentionned (besides I should probably brush history up, but Greece is more known for the influence of its former intellectuals than for actually leading the western and middle eastern world the way Roma, Spain and Portugal did).
"the sun never sets on the british empire" "Britannia rules the wave" look at the UK today, a 2nd classs power. it is an outpost for the russian nouveau riche and it is being destroyed by immigration from her former colonies. it is the pendulum of life that rules as all.
Especially the investment into Germany by the US after WWII has been one of the most profitable investments in human history. The payoffs are invaluable. Now, what do you think will happen with a debt haircut for Greece? Exactly nothing is my hunch. Probably the opposite will happen to what happened in Germany post 1949: Greeks will go out and party and incur more debt. Nobody will lift a finger. Why would they? By the way Piketty is dead wrong: Germany has made massive reparations and repaid debt post WWII. Yes it has received haircuts by the US but stating Germany never repaid its debt is a factual mistake.