lagos wrote:
jones wrote:
as Varoufakis said everything within the Euro depends on Germany's benevolence.
and that is my point! it's was never about the economics. he needed to package his proposal in a way that appealed to the egos of the powers at play or provided a soft landing to those opposed to Greek concessions, give the Germans something they can sell to their electorate!! Arguing the economics was never going to cut it, the people he is negotiating with know the economics and the unsustainability of the whole thing. Recognising that you are negotiating from a position of weakness and the powers that be won't budge, then accept that it's a lost cause for now and get some concessions. At this level, these decisions are never about the economics!!! If it were, Greece would never have been in the Euro in the 1st place!!!
I agree that this whole charade has little to do with economics. The problem with the sentence in bold is however that Tsipras and Varoufakis have nothing at all the German government has any interest in, nothing they could willingly give at least. And this is why I can't call Varoufakis (Syriza as a whole is another story) naive or inexperienced, it's not as if he straight up refused to play ball with Germany, they've tried to make concessions but Schäuble never had any interest in any solution that is viable at all for Greece.
Their errant behaviour in Europe has very little to do with Germany's electorate by the way, Merkel has long gone past the point of having to worry about being re-elected. The opposition candidates are trying to outdo each other in overall shitness and being her biggest cheerleader under the banner of governance and her electorate around these parts is convinced and adamant that the Greeks are somehow stealing their money via the EU to finance their lavish lifestyle and this were somehow just desserts. If Schäuble and Merkel have anyone they report to it sure as hell isn't their electorate.
