Reader Reflections on Greece

Reader "AC" pinged me this AM with her accurate assessment of events in Greece. "AC" writes ...

I find strange that no Euro leaders realized that even if Tsipras accepted the deal, his parliament would with almost certainty have rejected it.

European political leaders have lost the sense of democracy and of the power of Parliaments.

We may agree or not with Tsipras ideas and economic or social program, but one thing I think we can all agree on is that he has already made history.

Tsipras restored democracy with his decision to leave such a crucial decision to his people by referendum, showing everybody that in democracy, people must decide their own fate.

Triumph of Democracy

Reader "AC" is surely correct.

I have mentioned on many occasions that the policies of Tsipras are terrible. I cannot support them even as I support his decision to tell the Troika to go to hell.

Many will blame Tsipras. In actuality, it was Troika policies that all but assured the rise of the so-called "radical left" Syriza party.

Recall that Greece technocrat Prime Minister Lucas Papademos was handpicked by the Troika to replace George Papandreou simply because the latter proposed a voter referendum on the Greek bailouts.

Instead of imposed technocrats bowing down to kiss the ECB's ass, or early elections that the Troika hoped to see, Tsipras was willing to let the people decide.

One may or may not like the result, but this was a triumph of democracy over technocrats and nannycrat puppets.

Absurd Reactions

I was up early this AM and watched the futures. At one point the S&P was down over 40 points. Markets were (and still are) down everywhere, across the board, although the S&P has taken back about half the overnight low.

How could anyone have expected anything but what happened? Even those who failed to see this coming in advance should have realized late last week, this was finally inevitable.

The market is acting as if this was a big surprise. There is certainly no surprise in this corner.

The big shock will come when Spain marches down the same path.