Greek Cheek

I listened to a chap on the TV from Greece the other day with a novel solution for the mess his  country finds itself in - which is that the rest of Europe should just forgive the Greeks for their foolish ways - and agree to write-off their massive debts.

Now the chap wasn't completely bonkers - I have to admit.

Because he did have something of an argument in pointing out that the medicine on offer from the European Union (EU) - a programme of big spending cuts and tax rises - might just kill  instead of curing patient.

The logic being that such big cuts and tax rises might choke off the Greek economy's spending power - creating stagnation and leaving Greece in a vicious circle - from which the country can't ever escape.

Yet for all his sophistry - a Greek word which means superficially plausible, but ultimately specious and empty - the chap had nothing to say about how Greece got itself into this mess in the first place.

Which seems a pretty fundamental point to me - even if you are inclined to be sympathetic about how the Greek people dig themselves out of a hole of their own making.

The reality is that Greek politicians have been lying through their teeth to the rest of Europe for years - cheerfully accepting billions from the EU while allowing their economy to spiral out of control. 

And while it's not necessarily the ordinary Greek man or woman in the street who have caused the crisis - ultimately it's the ordinary man and woman in the rest of Europe who are expected to bail Greece out.

A country which pays so little tax across the board - even amongst the relatively comfortable middle classes - has no credibility in asking law abiding tax payers in other European countries to pay off the Greek debt. 

So given all the dubious practices that exist in Greece - and the fact that the country has been deliberately deceiving its neighbours for years.

Why would anyone believe that they've seen the error of their ways now - and that the country is going to get its act together in future?

Unless of course any new agreement is signed in blood by the Greek government - which is really what's happening just now.

But you've got to admire the cheek of some people - if you don't ask, you don't get - I suppose.