“Why is Greece such a big problem for the eurozone when the arguably far-worse financial plight of California is not raising similar concerns about the US or the dollar?” This is the fair question that was raised by Ralph Atkins of the Financial times in an article that was published today.
The Financial Times journalist writes that the reasons which the public thinks that Greece is a problem may include:
* Greece has exposed weaknesses in the eurozone’s political and crisis management systems.
* The US economy allows fiscal transfers between states, to help the weakest.
* Greece is not really such a big problem for the eurozone, but financial markets/commentators have over-reacted – or are biased against the euro.
* The eurozone is only 11 years old.
* Eurozone politicians have much greater freedom to act.
Last night the Greek Prime minister George Papandreou addressed the nation with a program to restructure Greece’s Economy and gain some of the foreign investors that the country has lost the last year.
(With Infprmation from http://blogs.ft.com/money-supply/2009/12/14/greece-versus-california/)
Athens
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New York
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