The Barack Obama Economy - Greece-ing Our Skids
President Barack Obama delivers remarks during the Official Arrival Ceremony for Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany on the South Lawn of the White House, June 7, 2011. Image Credit: Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy
Today, the United States stock market dropped about 1.5% on fears of extreme unrest in Greece on the news that the citizens there, who have lived in an entitlement/socialist society for decades, have nearly bankrupted the country and can no longer receive the supports to their lifestyles they were accustomed to.
Greece is struggling with a nearly half a trillion dollar debt load, and is working to avoid having to restructure, or worse, default on its debt. However, the Greek public has protested deep spending cuts and austerity measures to save their economy, and plans to privatize government-held entities have fallen far short of the necessary capital requirements.
Last week, President Barack Obama met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and one of the issues they discused was this ongoing problem of the Greecian economy. Greece has already received $161 billion in European bailout assistance, largely orchestrated by Merkel. Now, European finance ministers and international lenders are working on a second round, on the order of an additional $1l7 billion to $146 billion.
After his meeting with Merkel, Obama said the U.S. would participate in the bailout on condition that Germany takes the lead. In a sense, as the largest contributor to the International Monetary Fund, the United States is already participating.
This excerpted and edited from CNBC's moneycontrol.com -
US is in even worse shape financially than Greece: Gross
moneycontrol.com - Published on Tue, Jun 14, 2011
When adding in all of the money owed to cover future liabilities in entitlement programs the US is actually in worse financial shape than Greece and other debt-laden European countries, Pimco`s Bill Gross told CNBC Monday.
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