Europe

  The situation is Greece is really troubling as they have continued to receive bail-outs and have not given an exact measure of the debt percentage. When I read this article that said it went from 4% to 12% after taking another look from the EU, I was baffled. How can a country get away with saying it is 4% when it reality it is truly triple that. Then, they look at it again and see that it is above 13%. It astonishes me that the EU would give out so much money to a country without checking the books before hand and continue to reward this poor behavior even after they are caught. I understand that they passed legislation to keep this from happening again, but throwing money at a Greece like that may not have been the best thing to do. Spain, Portugal, and Ireland are not as bad as Greece, but are getting hit hard because of the current state of the economy. Portugal should have asked for help sooner to prevent it from getting so bad. If they asked earlier, they could have slowed down or prevented the economy from getting that bad. Those 3 nations are looking for trust in their markets and need help from the EU to reestablish themselves. The EU is comprised of 17 countries, and more that want to come in. Being apart of a group means that you stand up for those when they are down and I believe that they need to help in this time of need. The countries who are not doing poorly right now may be in the future and ask for others to help. If they give the cold shoulder now, it will only make for more problems in the future.




 The economic crisis of Europe is unique amongst the rest of the world simply in the fact that it is a burden on a newly established union.  It also poses a unique opportunity to forge a bond that if successful, would permit them to tether any storm.  Greece, Spain, Ireland, and Portugal will all be the testament of this bond as their need will the display to the EU and the world how Europe is unwilling to leave any of its own behind unless it becomes a true choice between life or death. 

The European Crisis is like a love story with a long, drawn out courtship and romance leading into a steady, yet serious "life-long" commitment.  Greece could attest to that.  Many scrutinize the ancient nation for its inability to avoid such an atrocious financial position and for lying its way into the European Union, but the Union has shown its merciful support in favor of Greece as the storm carries on.  The decisions for the Union to bail out Greece may be more a means of survival versus love for the country in the practical sense, yet one can also argue it could be easier to just cut ties with the Grecian nation and ultimately cut its losses.  The EU may also have other reasons for staying on board with Greece.  It too may realize that Greece may have lied to protect the survival of its nation, but with a little help it still has a promising future.  

So the question is "to Greek or not to Greek?" Or "to Spain, Ireland, or Portugal or not to Spain, Ireland, or Portugal?"   Well, the answer is simple... To indeed!  Its seems EU has the right idea on how to deal with current challenge.  From a financial standpoint the EU may realize that if they are able to successfully survive the current crisis they can emerge stronger than ever before.  In the long run Greece, Spain, Ireland, and Portugal may be more valuable with the union than not.  

t’s seems to me that the EU was doomed from the beginning.  It was a gamble; Europe gambled on the EU by investing in the Euro.  Overall it’s not a bad idea to want your currency to be amongst the most valuable currency but when you look at the time line is seem to me they had problems from the beginning. For an example in 1999 the currency is established, in 2001 Greece joins the currency and then in 2002 they introduced notes and coins to the currency (BBC, 29/01/2012).

The EU allowed Greece to join the currency knowing it was a bad idea; I refuse to believe Europe didn't’t know about Greece’s financial problems.  Then in 2002 Europe introduced notes and coins to the currency my question is did they have actually have the financial backing to reinforce the notes and coins.  Just because you pump the economy with more money doesn't’t necessarily means you can back the flow of currency (BBC, 29/01/2012). So in other words the EU invested in a country that “Lied” about its finances then pumped worthless money into the economy.  Not only did they do this with Greece but with many other countries.  When Europe realized they were heading for shallow waters in a sea of debt they continued to invest in countries that couldn't’t make good on their loans.  Instead of putting a cap on what these countries can borrow and except minimal loss they continued to grant stimulus’s to bailout the very same countries that couldn't’t pay their bills in the first place.

The EU was a good idea but made bad investment choices.  From its beginning in 1999 the EU has been in trouble 13 years later they’re still in trouble.  It seems to me that EU has done what other countries and individuals are guilty of and that’s spending more money than what they actually have.  I inserted a funny video I found on YouTube that attempts to explain the Eurozone Crisis and how the economy works. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyePCRkq620 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyePCRkq620