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On 7/16/15 2:55 PM, Dayne Goodwin via Marxism wrote:
What the talk is about is whether Tsipras as the national leader of Syriza for several years before Syriza won the January 2015 elections and he became Prime Minister should have delegated work on preparing a "plan B" within the party and since January also within the government.
In other words, he should have be considering an exit from the eurozone when his entire political trajectory has been Europeanist? And for that matter, Stathis Kouvelakis, the most prominent "hard" Marxist in the Greek parliament and Grexit advocate, writes a book for Verso titled "Crisis in the Eurozone" that has less than a page on what that would amount to. I've been referred on FB repeatedly to "Grexit made Easy" type articles but every one of them is idiotic. Mostly the appeals to Grexit sound like Burl Ives's "Big Rock Candy Mountain" but I'll give credit to Marty Hart-Landsberg for laying it on the line:
"To be a bit more specific, a break from the Eurozone would require nationalization of the banks -- an act that would immediately draw the country into a serious legal test with Europe since the banks are technically under the control of the European Central Bank. It would require the government to quickly issue new scrip as it prepared a new currency, and aggressively engage in an expanded public works program. At the same time it was unclear whether the new scrip would be accepted and whether the country would have sufficient foreign exchange to maintain minimum purchases of key import items such as food and medicine. Moreover, many businesses, holding debts denominated in euros, would likely be forced into bankruptcy necessitating government takeover. And, all this would take place in a relatively hostile international environment. No doubt some countries would offer words of solidarity, but it appears unlikely that any would or could offer meaningful financial or technical assistance. Still, with proper preparation the possibilities for success could have been greatly enhanced."
Unfortunately, he has confidence in the BRICS that seems unwarranted in light of China's interest in buying the Port of Piraeus at fire sale prices:
"Strikingly, Varoufakis mentioned that Syriza had established a small team to think about what a break would mean shortly after their January 2015 election, a team that no doubt was kept small because the government wanted to keep the planning secret. But that was a mistake. Planning should have happened on a large scale and in a visible way. Discussions should have been held with international legal experts as well as with the BRICS countries concerning possible use of their new lending and investment facilities."
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