The Parthenon was built in 432 BC. It is priceless. The site brings in a lot of tourist dollars, but it more than a source of capital; it is a national treasure like the Louvre.
A member of the German conservative CDU party, Marco Wanderwitz, said he wanted Greece to sell off some of its islands to help pay off the nation’s debt. Wanderwitz has never been known for the practicality of his thinking, but he is creative. Greece has very little to offer as collateral for the money it needs, and those who may buy its sovereign debt know it. There is no reason to put a lien on workers who do little but go out on strike.
Greece began selling $6.8 billion worth of sovereign bonds which mature in ten years. The paper will yield 6.35%, which is well above US Treasuries, but below the rates that Michael Milken was able to get for most of his corporate junk bond clients. The reasonable interest rate was a vote of confidence that Greece can reduce costs and bring in extra revenue to bring down its deficit which is currently 12.7% of GDP.
The debt offering was only the beginning of a very hard path that the Greek government will have to walk to refinance $34 billion in sovereign debt due in late May. The amount cannot be restructured without the help of the large financially stable governments of Europe, particularly Germany and France. German Chancellor Angela Merkel cannot supply Greece with capital or guarantees because almost every citizen of her country is against it. Germans, who spend so much of their time toiling in laboratories and factories, are understandably annoyed by television images of the Greeks sunning themselves or carrying placards as they stage labor protests in Athens.
The Greeks will not forgo their strikes for the same reason that the Italians will not stop changing governments. The spirit of anarchy and protest are deeply ingrained in the Greek people and that trait can not be exorcised. Greece will suffer more strikes and they will probably grow in size and frequency. The members of the national unions clearly believe that they are not to blame for the country’s problems and that the books of Greece will not be balanced with their wages.
A Greek debt default may be inevitable even if the central government agrees to austerity measures and attempts to deliver on them. Even though its debt may be restructured, this does not mean that the Greek government will pay this debt. The US government has spent a year restructuring the monthly payment terms of home loans to bring down an owner’s cost to stay in his house. Many of these people defaulted soon after their new arrangements are in place. Some do not have the discipline to stick to a household budget. Others never had the income to pay their mortgages, even at a reduced rate.
Greece probably is not able to collect enough taxes to cut its budget deficit no matter how much it would like to. The labor unrest will not go away, nor is there any reason that it should. The Greeks seem to have no more concern about the state of their country than the Germans do.
Greece could turn some of its treasures over to the Germans, or the Greek government could threaten to. That might get the attention of its citizens and make them finally understand that there is more at stake in the financial crisis than whether public workers get bonuses. Like the German embassy in Athens which sits on land which is officially owned for diplomatic purpose by the German government, the Parthenon could be annexed so that it sits on German soil as well. It would not have to be moved at all. It would just bear a small sign that says “Property of the German People”.
Douglas A. McIntyre
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