A MODEST PROPOSAL

The International Monetary Fund and the European Union are at loggerheads...in public.  It is the latter point that makes this so interesting.  There have been a number of times when parties have not seen eye to eye with the Fund but never can I remember a political body, separate or in concert who was not a debtor to the Fund, be in this position.  As of today, the Fund has flat refused to be involved in the Greek negotiations (they have already been paid a good chunk of what was owed) unless the Euros agree to include in the negotiations some form of up-front debt relief.  Now if I were a European politician who would have to explain this Kow-Tow to this Washington mob, I would be uncomfortable.  As Swift suggested some years back, feeding the whole lot to a food bank or an African game preserve in memory of Cecil the Lion might seem to be a viable alternative.  It would also clear the decks in the future from this jumped-up, ahead-of-itself primarily useless bunch of data compilers and save the world a few billion a year in the process.  But that's just me.  As Il Duce's boys put it, "Never let a crisis go to waste."

Now that is not to say that the Fund is incorrect in its assessment of events.  It is to say who the hell needs it to tell us what everyone knows already and what will occur in the passage of time in a politically acceptable and economically useful manner.  But, that result is going to require a couple of big items.

On the Greek side, forget about creating the new Hellenic Socialist Republic.  Not on guys, at least not now.  If you can get this thing back working, you can take another shot at it in ten years when nobody will care, but today there is a bit too much at stake.  Or to put it another way, do you wish to be Greeks or little members of the Comintern?

The second thing is get some folks in there who have dealt with this sort of thing before, both from the standpoints of economic realities, the financial requirements and the regulatory aspects and who understand and have faced the crucial political concerns in past experiences.  You would be surprised as to how many of people of that description are about.  Do not look for them in any official or quasi-official organization:  those types will always have an agenda.  Also keep in mind that for legal, financial or specialized skills, you are not hiring a firm:  you are hiring A MEMBER of that firm with whom you will work.  It is not the same thing.  It would appear that as of late in some instances you have not been well-served.

Finally, accept the fact that things will be put into place that will create great change and in some cases, irreversible change.  The Glory that was Greece is for another day...hey, catchy line that...which is easy to say but so, so difficult to comprehend when speaking of a way of life.




I'm having a bit of a bad day gang, and this is tough to write.  It will be better on Monday when I'll get after the Euros.  I have a lot to say about them.   Sorry