Troika – The EU’s Frustrating Gatekeeper – Sturdyblog
Greece is effectively refusing to negotiate with the troika (the triumvirate of European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund) or separately with Germany – as first and sole ports of call – according to Sturdyblog.
This is a distinct break from the past – it is what every incoming Greek government has done in the last few years (and to an extent, Spanish, Irish, Portuguese, Italian governments), under threat of penury.
This attitude does not mean Greece is eschewing its obligations or destabilising the union, despite what some hysterical reporting would have you believe.
It simply means Greece will discuss its obligations and the best way to discharge them through democratic EU structures (Council of Ministers, European Parliament), rather than bureaucratic EU structures. Which is entirely proper.
That it will treat Germany as an equal partner, with say proportional to their influence. Which is entirely proper.
That it will discuss the mandate, democratically handed to a new government by the Greek people, with other democratic representatives. Greece is simply reclaiming its seat at the adults’ table.
Within the last few days, a former IMF director, the Bank of England and the US President, are all shaking the pom-poms of Keynesian economics, like lovestruck cheerleaders, at Tsipras. Yes, austerity may not have been the way to go, they all concede. They do now, anyway.
Had the Greek people not voted for change, would they?
The rest of this article is on Sturdyblog – give it a visit.
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There is no point in negotiating with the IMF anyway, because it doesn’t really pay attention to what a national Government says to it; it just keeps repeating passages from Friedman at them until they give up out of sheer nervous exhaustion.