Comment on the 'extend and pretend' game.

Sorry I could not include my comment in the previous post. Residual formatting remained that I could not get rid of.


Social democracy in Europe is not a resounding success with the exception of Germany. This is not the post to dissect why this is so.


Greece had gone way beyond social democracy and accumulated sins over the years that are difficult to kick. Government ownership of too many businesses, pension plans that can not be paid for, cronyism, featherbedding, welfare cheating, tax evasion - in short, letting political pull dominate business decisions.


Greece pretended that is corrupt Socialism worked and it went broke. Then they pretended to fix the problems, but they did not. Now they are treated as naughty children who must be supervised and closely. Will it work? Still too early to tell.

Ukraine is not far beyond in crashing. Croniism, corruption, state-run enterprises and even the emblems of the Socialist past haunt the Ukraine. Inept leadership tried to foment anti-Russian feelings (a task that's easy in Eastern Europe) that led to the loss of Crimea and an insurrection in the East that has devastated the industrial Donbass. And like Greece, the Western powers are eager to lend them money, digging the financial hole deeper.