According to John Dimsdale of American Public Media's radio program, Marketplace:

Imagine if the federal minimum wage dropped from $7.25 an hour to $5.50, plus the eligibility age for Social Security jumped to 70. And 450,000 government workers lost their jobs and health benefits over the next three years. That’s close to how the latest Greek cutbacks would feel in this country.

Makes it a bit easier to understand the Greek public reaction.

I am sure politicians could pander with that data. But what is the alternative? Just keeping ones head firmly in the sand ( or elsewhere) doesn't solve the problem of decades of overspending and promises we can't keep.

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1982 300SD " Wotan" ..On the road as of Jan 8, 2007 with Historic Tags

I think there are some other factors to be considered as well, such as:
Who pays for health care?
What's the cost of living like?
What's the "bread basket " of essential products and services like?
What's the unemployment level?
What's mass transit like and how available? what cost?
What's the climate like, impacting the necessity for home heating oil?
What are mandatory insurance costs?
What public programs exist as welfare or for the indigent?


Without knowing these things and others, it is difficult to have a complete picture of the Greek situation.

Look at Alaska: wages are higher but so are the costs to just survive.

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Strelnik
Invest in America: Buy a Congressman!

1950 170SD
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1960 Borgward Isabella TS 2dr
1983 240D daily driver
1983 380SL
1990 350SDL daily driver alt
3 x Citroen DS21M, down from 5
3 x Citroen 2CV, down from 6

It's no wonder they are burning banks.

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1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

They have only themselves to blame for the mess they are in. The irony is that harsh thoug the austerity plan is, it's not going to work so they will default again and leave the Euro.

- Peter.

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Formerly...
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1971 108 280S

One of the big questions that looms, as it does in the UK, is whether austerity alone can reverse the fall. With little to no prospect for growth, merely cutting spending, is unlikely to prevent a major collapse.

The comparision is false. The Greeks decided to let everyone retire at 53 years of age on a government pension. That is clearly excessive, and does not compare to the United States in any way. They also were passing out Christmas bonuses to government workers equal to 14 months of pay, something that would cause a Republican riot if it were to happen here.

Diane Francis: Greece Is Not a Country, It's a Party

They also do a lousy job collecting taxes.

Yes, not a direct comparison, but it's not debatable that entitlement program spending is the biggest driver of the US deficit spending . . . say, compared to Defense spending or even the operations of the Federal government.

Perhaps is not very fair comment but... I had the chance to live and work in Greece for 8 months few years back. They are so very lazy... you really need to see it to believe it. What kind of country is this? They pay bonuses to people who come to work on time for more than 50% for the month. They have 13 and 14 months payment as a bonus come Xmas. Average vacation time is 26 WORKING DAYS, fully paid. Everyone above the age of 21 starting to work is allowed to go on vacation only 4 weeks after they have started the job. The way how the pension system is working: They take average earnings for the last 5 years of your working life and this is what you get for your pension.... I met people who are receiving pension of 2800 Euros per month and they have become pensioners on the very "tender" age of 55 ..........Everyone knows this and what they do is making sure that all the workers before pension time are getting every overtime available plus all the bonuses available, so they can get bigger pensions. Everybody is on this scam, from managers to cleaners. those are just a few examples.
No wonder that they are not happy but they have to learn that all this benefits are earned not granted.
Just my $0.02

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"If women are so bloody perfect at multitasking how come they can't have a headache and sex at the same time?"
Billy Connolly

I heard a while back that the economy of Greece, if it were a state in the US would be on a par with Indiana. Indiana fer Crissakes?!!! How in the f@ck can a nation so small get into such a colossal mess that the economies of so many countries are trembling? Doesn't anyone watch the store anywhere on this planet??

You are spot on Pavka007.

No wonder that they are not happy but they have to learn that all this benefits are earned not granted.
Just my $0.02

My sentiments exactly.

Yeah Baby! Burn the banks. Shoot the politicians. And wake up tomorrow in the same place you are today. Lazy, unemployed and broke.

That seems excessive, but it really depends on the base salary -- if the bonus is expected, it's basically a part of the worker's salary rather than an excess.

Boo f**king hoo. That's approximately normal in many countries outside of Dumberica, including Australia and the better run European states (Germany, Switzerland). It's the US that's abnormal in this respect, bordering on criminal.

Ding, ding, ding! That's the problem. Government guaranteed pensions at a comparatively young age. But please don't throw the good things (civilized amount of vaca time) and neutral things (a large part of the salary is paid at the end of the year) out with the bad.

Well I am with you here but let just think for a second....

Normal working week in Greece was 36 hours.
Bonuses paid for going to work ON TIME.
Bonuses paid EVERY year (the equivalent of 13/14 months every Xmas)
Pension age 55 years of age.
Last 5 years average making your pension (how about the first 30 years you work for base wage?)
UP TO 30 working days a year fully paid SICK days.
(add up 26 working days vacation and you have 56 WORKING days anual vacation, this is 11 weeks)
On top of all the ABOVE, 11 days NATIONAL HOLIDAYS. ( so now we are talking 13 weeks OFF for the year.)
One year have 260 working days. The "poor" Greeks are working only 185 days a year in average.
HOW MANY DAYS A YEAR DO YOU WORK?
Honestly I don't have any feelings for them. The minimum guaranteed social pension before all of this was 800 Euro a month. I know people here working the whole month for the same money...please pay attention this is the SOCIAL pension from THE STATE, regardles of the fact if you ever worked in your life or not. When you hit 55 years of age you are start collecting....period. if you have OTHER pension from your work etc this is ON THE TOP of this social money.
What else to talk about??? No point, let them sink to the bottom of the ocean.
Now I would like to make it clear that I don't have ANYTHING against any Greek people, I have few Greek friends and I love Greek food, but the Greek here in the US are not the same as the lazy a$$h00le$ back in Greece.

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"If women are so bloody perfect at multitasking how come they can't have a headache and sex at the same time?"
Billy Connolly

You write that as if ONLY repubs would object to such a plan. Sadly, you are probably right. Obama would suggest that here, and you'd not object at all---as long as they confiscated enough money from the top 1% to offset at least some of it.

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1982 300SD " Wotan" ..On the road as of Jan 8, 2007 with Historic Tags

... agreed: the problem is the government pension, not the vacation time. However, I'd suspect that going to a 36 hr week with 4 weeks of guaranteed vacation in the US would actually increase worker productivity per hr (happy employees tend to be more productive) as well as reducing unemployment. (Same # or slightly fewer hours worked spread across more people.)

Great idea except for the way it would raise prices/ costs on everything. The fixed costs of having an employee are a constant. These include the company health insurance and dental insurance, maybe short term disability--all these are fixed ( except when rates are raised). Generally they are spread out over 40 hours so the employer can figure his true cost of the labor he hires. Your idea requires that he spread those same costs over only 36 hours and hire additional people ( with the same overhead cost). The employer's costs go up. Is he supposed to eat that cost?
I expect that cost to be passed on in the form of higher prices.

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1982 300SD " Wotan" ..On the road as of Jan 8, 2007 with Historic Tags