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Grexit: end of the illusion by John Weeks openDemocracy, June 10 <https://opendemocracy.net/can-europe-make-it/john-weeks/grexit-end-of-illusion> The negotiations between the Troika and Greece are a sham. Greek submission to the neoliberal EU project or forced exit was the Troika game plan from the moment Syriza formed a government. [John Weeks is Professor Emeritus, School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London, and author of 'Economics of the 1%: How mainstream economics serves the rich, obscures reality and distorts policy', Anthem Press, published earlier this year.] Appearance and reality For five months we have watched the attempt by the government of Greece to renegotiate its debt with the notorious Troika (the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, with the German government very much the 500 pound cliché in the room). Or, so it appeared. We can now know that the reality was and is quite different from appearances. The Syriza government and its creditors are not and were not in conflict over debt servicing, but something much more fundamental in which there could be no compromise. Greece has the only EU government that opposes the alarmingly successful project to solidify a neoliberal Europe. Because of that opposition there will be no "agreement" between the Greek government and the Troika. Indeed, from the moment Syriza formed a government only two outcomes were possible: 1) the replacement of the Syriza government with one again obedient to the neoliberal project, or 2) or expulsion from the euro zone and the European Union. With the Greek government enjoying overwhelming support, expulsion becomes the only possibility. The question for the Troika is, how? The absence of any formal mechanism for expulsion of a member country from either the euro zone or the EU quickly became the central problem of the Troika. This problem would be and will be solved by creating conditions such that it appears that the Syriza government chooses the outcome the Troika desires. That is the real story. It is very simple - force the Greek government to withdraw in circumstances that allow the Troika to deny culpability. Without knowing it, we have been following the manoeuvres by the Troika to achieve that end. The drawn-out nature of the conflict is a Troika strategy, to drain the Greek government of money until it must accept what Prime Minister called "absurd" demands or choose an increasingly costly exit from the euro zone. . . . At the beginning of June the Greek government had a payment to make to the IMF. Given the inflexibility of the Troika, the announcement by the Greek government to use a procedural device within IMF rule to postpone payment is the rational response. I do not interpret this as a move of desperation by a "cash-strapped, bankrupt" government. Rather, it reflects the need to conserve euros for the long-expected transition to a national currency, when the euro like the dollar will be part of the government's foreign exchange reserves. The Greek public debt cannot be paid in full and will not be. Even the cast-iron austerian Wolfgang Schäuble must know that. Greek government submission to the neoliberal EU project or forced exit was the Troika game plan from the moment Syriza formed a government. Soon the negotiations that-never-were will no longer be. The challenge facing the Greek government will be to convert expulsion from the euro zone into escape from neoliberal Europe. full at: <https://opendemocracy.net/can-europe-make-it/john-weeks/grexit-end-of-illusion> _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
