GREECE: A US State & Local Crisis Template?
Similarities to Puerto Rico, Detroit, Illinois & Chicago to Great to Ignore
By: Gordon T. Long
GoldSeek.com
Thursday, 9 July 2015
While all eyes have been fixated on the unfolding developments in Greece, I have been uncomfortably studying events in Puerto Rico. Recently, having produced two video’s with Mish Shedlock on the fiscal situations in Illinois and the City of Chicago I have become acutely reminded of the monetary reality of what happens to those unfortunate democracies which don’t have the luxury of expediently “printing their way out” of fiscal problems like the EU and US Federal Government.
What Greece and US State & Local Governments have in common is two fold:
Neither can print money to bailout their proliferate and reckless spending,
Neither can debase their currency in a politically stealth manner which reduces standards of livings to match mounting debt obligations.
One of the many observations we can make on what Greece has visibly shown us is how quickly a democratic electorate can be influenced and potentially ‘brought to its knees’ when ATM withdrawals are restricted and store shelves supporting basic needs are abruptly found empty. Fortunately the Greeks were angered by these threatening acts of control and public opinion swung decidedly from a YES vote to a NO vote in one week. The people knowingly voted to accept tougher consequences rather than feel they were going to be puppets to foreign masters.
ARE OTHER DEMOCRACIES FUNDAMENTALLY ANY DIFFERENT?
It is easy to to sit in front of our TV set and pass judgement on others without being retrospective on whether we are actually any different? Consider what placed Greece in this “no win” position?
The Rest…HERE
