Greek and Portuguese temper - spot the differences

[Colonel Olrik]

Because it isn't clear enough for too many people.

Lisbon today: more than 300,000 people strong protest in front of the governmental buildings:

(just scroll through the photos)

and, of course, in Greece.

[UnderAGreySky]

Honestly, can they be compared? Aren't the situations very different?

This is the fourth or fifth Greek bailout+austerity measure. Beyond a certain point, how much can a government stop spending before it makes redundant actually useful and productive members of society? Firemen, policemen, doctors?. Not to mention that each time they were bailed out they were told that this round of 'austerity' was needed for whatever excuses they wanted - confidence of creditors, bond markets - and that has not happened. Are you surprised the Greek on the street has been disillusioned?

If something like this happens in Portugal, expect similar riots.

[Skgoa]

The germans are worse, though:




I don't understand how we could ever let THOSE guys into the EU...

[Starglider]

Portugal is trailing Greece by about a year;



Also the eurocrats will try harder with Portugal compared to Greece as one sovereign default is an unfortunate accident, two is a pretty clear trend. Let's see what Portugal is like in a year's time before condemning the Greeks as quick to riot.

[Colonel Olrik]

Portugal is trailing Greece by about a year;



Also the eurocrats will try harder with Portugal compared to Greece as one sovereign default is an unfortunate accident, two is a pretty clear trend. Let's see what Portugal is like in a year's time before condemning the Greeks as quick to riot.

Thankfully there's google to remind us all that the Greeks are rioting since the beginning of 2008..

The Portuguese public employees have seen their salaries slashed 20 to 30% (my parents among the last). All have lost 4 public holidays and have had major cuts in the work rights. The flag companies have been sold to the Chinese. The government jumps higher than the troika tells them to, and do try to bear in mind that the minimum and average salary and pensions in Pt are now, like before, hundreds of euros lower than in Greece.

You're reading your graph wrong.

[K. A. Pital]

Is this a celebration of Portuguese submissiveness or Greek unruly-ness? Or whatever... not sure.

[Colonel Olrik]

Is this a celebration of Portuguese submissiveness or Greek unruly-ness? Or whatever... not sure.

Me neither. But then again, it wasn't me or you who came up with the acronym PIGS.

[K. A. Pital]

I said many times on this board that the acronym "PIGS" is more suitable, and not as acronym at all, to the corrupt officials - both in local governments and in the EU as a whole, banking oligarchs and morons in the ECB whose hands are all over the periphery crisis. These are the real pigs.