Greece Never Looked So Good

Think back to the Greek bailout discussions. The EU, central bankers, IMF, labor unions and bondholders all with a stake in attempting to look like they could solve a thorny problem. All that brainpower and their best plan was not to shut down Greece's monuments and trample on the people. It turns out that the Acropolis was shut down for about three days by a couple of hundred rouge union workers in protest, but the government sent in the troops to open it up for the people and the tourists. What a novel concept, keep open the venues that generate fees and taxes, if run privately, especially since it was already determined that the vacationing federal workers would receive all back pay. Greeks are better thinkers than American politicians. Sad.

I also do not recall the EU leaders intentionally talking down the markets. Our near socialist friends seemed to understand that depressed markets result in reduced economic activity and taxes. Again, the continental socialists have a better grasp of economics than our government leaders. Sad.

Finally, everybody connected to the European debt crisis was willing to negotiate, some more than others. Additionally, all of the parties didn't constantly say that they would not negotiate or deviate from their position. At least not publicly, daily. Sad.

To recap, the Greeks are better than American leaders at one, caring about their constituents; two, economics; and three,the art of negotiation. Sad again.