Krispaket och nya lån löser inte Grekland och Italiens problem

Italien är stadigt på väg in i samma situation som Grekland. När Italien hamnar i samma läge som Grekland så är Europa, EU och EMU verkligen illa ute. Italiens statsskuld är mycket större än Greklands och Italiens ekonomi är en av Europas största. Landet plågas dessutom av samma problem som Grekland med omfattande korruption. Till det kommer också en omfattande organiserad brottslighet. Den här typen av problem kan inte lösas genom att man ger länderna nya lån som i fallet Grekland. Inte heller löser krispaket med nedskärningar och privatiseringar problemen med den ekonomiska krisen. Utan de leder troligen bara till att det blir än värre. För att citera några ekonomer från CADTM som är experter på skuldsatta länder:

The 27th October agreement is not a solution for the Greek people who are suffering the full effects of the crisis, aggravated by the austerity measures the government has inflicted on them. This operation is entirely managed by the creditors and is in conformity with their interests. This debt reduction plan is a European version of the ”Brady plans” that had such devastating effects on the developing countries during the eighties and nineties. The Brady plan (named after the US Treasury secretary at the time) involved debt restructuring by exchange of bonds, in the principal indebted countries that took part. These were Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Jordan, Mexico, Nigeria, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Uruguay, Venezuela and Vietnam. At the time, Nicholas Brady had announced that the volume of the debts would be reduced by 30% (in fact, the reductions, when they did happen, were much less ; in some cases, and not the least, debts even increased) and the new bonds (Brady bonds) guarantied a fixed interest rate of around 6%, which was very favorable to the creditors. This also assured application of austerity measures dictated by the IMF and the World Bank. Today, under other latitudes the same logic provokes the same disasters. The Troika (ECB, EC, IMF) imposes endless austerity measures on the Greek, Irish and Portuguese people. If there is no reaction from their people in time, others will have the same : Spain, Belgium, France…

This plan cannot validly permit Greece to resolve its problems for two reasons : 1. the debt reduction is totally insufficient ; 2. the economic and social policies applied in accordance with the Troika demands will fragilize the country even more. This characterizes the odious nature of these financial agreements with Greece, any future loans in this framework and the restructuring of the previous debts.

Greece must make a choice between two options :

Throw in the towel and be again subject to the gauntlet of the Troika ;

Refuse the dictatorship of the markets and the Troika in suspending the payments and by proceeding to a debt audit so that the illegitimate part may be repudiated.

Other countries are, or soon will be, confronted with the same choice : Spain, Ireland, Italy, Portugal… This list is far from exhaustive. In any case, these same policies are applied, in differing degrees, all over the EU. These austerity plans must everywhere be refused and citizen controlled audits of public debt put int operation.

En grekisk kommitté för en öppen revision av skulderna säger följande om problemen:

In the early hours of the 27th October, the Eurozone leaders reached a decision marking the tightening of the public debt’s grip over the Greek people. The proposed haircut of the public debt held by the private sector will not resolve Greece’s debt problem, whilst instead it brings new burdens. The reasons are plenty:

1. The haircut will be accompanied by new loans, worth EUR 130bn, leading to a less than promised debt reduction.

2. The debt reduction is small and unequally distributed, given that the Ôroika¢s bailout loans (worth EUR 65 bn), as well as the bonds held by the ECB (worth EUR 55 bn), are exempt.

3. Pension funds will suffer a blow worth EUR 11.5 bn, which implies that debt restructuring actually means a reduction of pensions and social provisions.

4. The new, guaranteed bonds that will replace the old ones will not be contracted under Greek law, resulting in a more favourable position for our creditors.

5. The haircut will be accompanied by new austerity packages, reductions in wages and mass dismissal of public sector workers, which will push the Greek people further into poverty.

6. As a guarantee, Germany and the EU essentially demand that Greece operates under reduced national sovereignty and in practice impose a new Occupation, following the appointment of a Gauleiter in each important ministry and department.

7. The agreement itself is stillborn and far from complete, given that the expected agreement with the banks is not guaranteed, similarly to the agreement of the 21st of July, which the governments hailed as a great success.

8. The results are highly questionable since, contrary to the government and EU proclamations, the reduction of debt to 120% of GDP by 2020 will not make it sustainable. If this level were sustainable, then why is Italy, whose debt today is equally high, being called to reduce it? Any why was Greece in 2009, with a debt ratio significantly lower than that, forced to accept the bailout package?

For all of the above reasons, the decision of the Eurozone’s leaders is unacceptable, and must be overturned through the Greek people’s struggle. The selective haircut, which leaves the illegal loans of the troika untouched while it leads the pension funds to catastrophe, shows how necessary are the cessation of payments to our creditors and a democratic, worker-led debt audit. This audit will show which part of the debt is illegal, illegitimate and unconstitutional, and thus it will prompt its cancellation. Debt cancellation is based on the sovereignty of the Greek people, who will force creditors to accept its terms.

On Friday 28th October the Greek people celebrated their resistance to the Axis powers in 1940. The majestic and determined actions of the people, which marked this anniversary, show the way to rid ourselves of the creditors¢ shackles and end the new Occupation that they attempt today. The Debt Audit Campaign’s conference planned for the near future, aims to be a step in our society’s struggle to cancel the illegal, illegitimate and unconstitutional debt!

Vad man säger är helt enkelt att de delar av Greklands skuld som uppstått på grund av spekulation, korruption och fiffel inte ska betalas alls, dessa skulder kallas illegitima skulder. Omedelbart ska betalningar ställas in och ekonomin går igenom. Därefter avskrivs de illegitima skulderna och de andra skulderna betalas när landet ekonomi återställts. För att detta ska var möjligt krävs med säkerhet en nationalisering av banker och end el andra företag på samma sätt som skedde i Argentina, ett land som genom att inte följa det internationella kapitalset riktlinjer om nedskärningar och privatiseringar lyckade reparera sin ekonomi och betala de legitima skulderna.

Greklands skuldavbetalningar möjliggörs just nu av nya lån och det enda detta lett till är en ökad statsskuld. Läget har alltså förvärrats på grund av de åtgärder som hittills vidtagits, precis på det sätt som ekonomerna ovan hävdar alltid sker med den typ av privatiserings- och nedskärningsprogram som föreslås för Grekland.

Att rulla skulderna framför sig på det vis som Grekland gör är inte ens möjligt när det gäller Italien med en mycket större skuld och mycket större ekonomi än Grekland. Italiens kris innebär därmed en säker kollaps för euron, EMU och EU nyliberala ekonomiska modell. Den väg som storkapitalet företrädda av EU:s ledare föreslår leder bara rakt ner i fördärvet, läget försämras och inget löses.

Storkapitalets och EU:s väg är att tvinga ner vanligt folk i fattigdom och armod. Det är inte en lösning utan en förvärring av problemen. Vanligt folk blir utblottade och fattiga, skulderna består och de spekulerande bankerna och den privilegierade borgarklassen slipper undan med sin oansvarighet, sin spekulation och sina vinster. Den enda framkomliga vägen är inställda betalningar, skuldavskrivningar och nationaliseringar på Argentinas vis.

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