What this portends is far more serious than it sounds. Greece has been teetering on the edge of insolvency for years, with seemingly no hope of getting on a firmer stance.
The country tried to soften its "Screw you" message to the world's banks and other lenders by holding a referendum Sunday. Hey, let the voters decide whether they should undergo austerity or not.
Big surprise -- they voted "no." (Sarcasm, dear readers, that's sarcasm.)
What does this mean?
Well, for one thing, Greece's finance minister is no more -- he's been replaced. And other countries are making it clear that they are not pleased. (Germany seems to be leading the charge.)
Greek banks are staying closed, although their ATMs are letting people remove the equivalent of $66USD at a time. (Long lines are forming, according to the news media.) Greece's lenders are continuing to provide money, but only enough for a few days at a time.
Will Greece be kicked out of the European Union? (Whether they should stay in the EU was part of Sunday's vote.)
Will this developing crisis cause another big drop in stock markets around the world?
Other countries are also in dire straits. (19 so far, according to this prognosticator -- and the U.S. rates a shining C- on the list. Oh goody.) Will this start some sort of domino effect?
Stay tuned...and pray.
Update: As of Sunday the 12th, Greece's bailout plan has been approved by other countries in the EU...provided Greece takes some serious austerity measures, and gives up much of its right to approve or disprove what's going to happen. Greek banks are set to reopen on Thursday.
No comments:
Post a Comment