Joseph Stiglitz: Europe’s war on Greek democracy [View all]
by Joseph Stiglitz
NEW YORK (Project Syndicate) The rising crescendo of bickering and acrimony within Europe might seem to outsiders to be the inevitable result of the bitter endgame playing out between Greece and its creditors.
In fact, European leaders are finally beginning to reveal the true nature of the ongoing debt dispute, and the answer is not pleasant: it is about power and democracy much more than money and economics.
Of course, the economics behind the program that the troika (the European Commission, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund) foisted on Greece five years ago has been abysmal, resulting in a 25% decline in the countrys gross domestic product.
I can think of no depression, ever, that has been so deliberate and had such catastrophic consequences: Greeces rate of youth unemployment, for example, now exceeds 60%. ..................(more)
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/europes-war-on-greek-democracy-2015-06-29?dist=beforebell