Greeks not let off scot-free

Sam at Counting Cats makes a timely assessment of where the fault lies for the whole Greek shenanigans:

So the Greek government has spent money like it was going out of style for decades and now that the well has run dry, it’s the well's fault?

He goes on to deconstruct the claim "it's all down to the bankers!" and points out just how far down the hole the Greek government, egged on by its population, spent itself. Perhaps the banks should have stepped in and said "no, hang on, no more" but you can just imagine the pre-2008 attitude towards anyone trying to tell a sovereign nation "hey guys, it's time for the party to close".

Sam lays out the option the Greek demos had:

But they could have voted for small-government, fiscally-responsible, liberals who would have tried to change that (reducing the tax evasion problem into the bargain, as per Laffer). They, in general, didn’t.

Contrast this with the British media and trade union attitude towards below-inflation raises in Government spending ("savage cuts") and one has to wonder whether, if not for the example of the Greeks and other Mediterranean nations, we'd have been in the same hole in 10-20 years time.

I am reminded of My Big Fat Greek Wedding

Gus Portokalos: There are two kinds of people - Greeks, and everyone else who wish they was Greek.

I wonder what a 2012 sequel would be like:

Angela: There are two kinds of people - Greeks, and everyone else who gets down on their knees and thank God they are not Greek.

But, to be fair, Toula nails the Greek character:

So, what happens is my dad and uncles, they fight over who gets to eat the lamb brain. And then my aunt Voula forks the eyeball and chases me around with it, try to get me to eat it, 'cause it's gonna make me smart. So, you have two cousins, I have 27 first cousins. Just 27 first cousins alone! And my whole family is big and loud. And everybody is in each other's lives and business. All the time! Like, you never just have a minute alone, just to think, 'Cause we're always together, just eating, eating, eating! The only other people we know are Greeks, 'cause Greeks marry Greeks to breed more Greeks, to be loud breeding Greek eaters.

It's a miracle they kept in the Euro this long.