Thursday, January 29, 2015

COTD: Diaspora Long Gone

Two American columnists on the Greek elections: one who is hopelessly wrong, and one who is painfully correct: RobertArvanitis • 6 hours ago
(Orignally posted on an economics site; trust you can infer the underlying folly from the text)

Syriza is a disaster for Greece.

The hardworking Greek diaspora departed long ago, leaving behind a country over-weighted with the less-energetic.

That residuum consumed more than they produced. For a long time. As must happen, eventually the money ran out.

It is the nature of politicians to corrupt social feedback mechanisms (prices in markets, votes in politics). Societies thus seduced always end up with a katzenjammer in the morning. You may be right that Syriza is not the worst. But the remedy is not more alcohol.
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I regret the cost to the youth, but that’s the tragedy of socialism.

It is unsustainable because it takes from the productive to subsidize the (unjustifiably) unproductive.

It is unsustainable because it borrows for current consumption, robbing the future of the young to satisfy the present.