Meanwhile in Greece

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/ ... story.html

I know this sounds like a broken recording, but these poor ba$tards are in a slow death spiral. GDP still contracting, debt still increasing and unemployment still rising. Its not over, there or elsewhere in Europe. Eventually the reality is that there simply isn't any money and you can't borrow it endlessly. Good luck Greece. Eventually they are going to collapse and default IMO

ATHENS, Greece — Greece’s two main labor unions covering civil servants and the private sector have called a 48-hour strike to protest austerity measures due to be voted on next week.

The unions said Wednesday that the strike on Nov. 6-7 will be accompanied by demonstrations in central Athens on both days. Previous such protests have turned violent.

And Spain has a 25% unemployment rate and some still look up to Europe as something we should emulate. Probably just easier to look away and pretend that it can't happen here.

I don't understand what these Grrek protestors think they can accomplish... where do they think the money is going to come from to satisfy their desired wages and pensions? The Titanic is going down and they refuse to get into the life rafts for fear of getting wet.

LOL wrote: I know this sounds like a broken recording, but these poor ba$tards are in a slow death spiral. GDP still contracting, debt still increasing and unemployment still rising. Its not over, there or elsewhere in Europe. Eventually the reality is that there simply isn't any money and you can't borrow it endlessly. Good luck Greece. Eventually they are going to collapse and default IMO

It's not out of the realm of possibility for the U.S. to reboot at some point in the future, either. As the life of countries go, we're one of the younger ones.

Raees wrote:

LOL wrote: I know this sounds like a broken recording, but these poor ba$tards are in a slow death spiral. GDP still contracting, debt still increasing and unemployment still rising. Its not over, there or elsewhere in Europe. Eventually the reality is that there simply isn't any money and you can't borrow it endlessly. Good luck Greece. Eventually they are going to collapse and default IMO

It's not out of the realm of possibility for the U.S. to reboot at some point in the future, either. As the life of countries go, we're one of the younger ones.

For once I agree with you. The sooner we reject the European model, the sooner we can get back on track. This country became the envy of the world because of free market capiitalism and the further we get from that, the more it will cost us.

Not only does Greece spend way too much for public pensions, early retirement, and other entitlements, they also are very bad at collecting tax revenue, a perfect storm.

I was reading they could balance their 2013 budget if it wasn't for a gargantuan interest payment. That illustrates why debt is so dangerous. 189% of falling GDP in Greece.

Maybe our election would turn out different if Europe had collapsed sooner? I sometimes wonder if anyone is paying attention.