Help Wanted: Diaspora Suckers to Pay Off Greece’s Debt

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Help Wanted: Diaspora Suckers to Pay Off Greece’s Debt

Andy Dabilis

With Greece drowning in $460 billion in debt caused primarily by the country’s two ruling political powers, the New Democracy Capitalists and PASOK Anti-Socialists, buying votes with taxpayer money by hiring hundreds of thousands of needless nonworkers for generations, a Greek – from an industry that doesn’t pay taxes – has the brilliant idea of ha

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July 05, 2012

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7 readers comments


1. Philip Vorgias wrote on July 06, 2012 4:12 PM	Pretty well said.

2. Niko Seretis wrote on July 06, 2012 6:29 PM	Andy I always enjoy reading your commentaries. Funny and true!

3. Basil Zafiriou wrote on July 06, 2012 11:35 PM	Andy has been living in Greece so long, he’s apparently become as cynical as the best of them. How else to explain this choleric eruption against volunteer efforts to help Greeks at this trying time in their history? Whatever the factors behind the crisis currently ravaging Greece, no one can deny that the country can use all the help it can get. The “Greece Debt Free” campaign will not eliminate Greece’s huge debt –not even close. But it is a smart way of providing meaningful debt relief, provided it finds adequate support. Rather than relying on Andy’s ad hominem attack, I invite NH readers to visit the GDF site and judge for themselves: http://www.greecedebtfree.org .

4. Niko Seretis wrote on July 07, 2012 8:58 AM	Basil, the Diaspora has always helped Greece in times of need. We'll go back to the earthquakes in Cephalonia, Patras, and Kalamata. The aid never reached the people effected in the above disasters. In the case of Patra, I knew the builder who profited from that earthqauke with diaspora money and gave nothing in return but I was too young at the time to beat the hell out of him! The fires in the Peloponisos is another example. I think everyone would love to help if we knew the aid would reach those in need and not the ones running the show.

5. ARMODIOS PAPAGIANAKIS wrote on July 07, 2012 12:19 PM	Perhaps Basil should tell us how much he contributed to GDF and what specifically on their web-site convinced him it is a “smart way to provide meaningful debt relief” so other NH readers can do the same.

6. Philip Vorgias wrote on July 07, 2012 12:32 PM	Instead of the GDF, what Greek made products do we all purchase? When I buy olive oil, I ALWAYS buy 'Product of Greece' rather than Italy. It's better quality and cheaper, usually. I buy Greek wines and beers. Greek made CD's and tapes. Greek magazines. What other products can we purchase? This is the way to support Greece, not by buying Greek Bonds!

7. Basil Zafiriou wrote on July 07, 2012 3:48 PM	GDF provides another channel to help the Greek economy, in addition to buying Greek products: products that carry the GDF logo direct 50% of the profits towards paying down the Greek debt. Individual contributions to the GDF from US residents are also eligible for a charitable deduction in the donor’s tax returns. Funds raised through donations and business sponsorships will be used to buy Greek debt in secondary markets and retire it. Because Greek debt trades at a fraction of its face value, debt purchases reduce the nominal value of Greece’s outstanding debt by several times the purchase price. The impact is similar to reducing Greek debt through restructuring, as in the recent PSI deal, without the legal complications of the latter or the stigma -and adverse market impact- associated with a default.
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