February 22, 2015
That’s the question that millions of readers of the NYT will be asking after seeing an analysis of the deal between Greece and the European Union that told readers:
“Moreover, the finance ministers made clear that Greece will not get any more cash until it satisfies them it can keep a lid on spending.”
In fact, Greece has already cut government spending by almost 15 percent in real terms from 2008 to 2014, according to the International Monetary Fund (I.M.F.). This spending cut is equal to almost 9.0 percent of Greece’s potential GDP. This would be the equivalent of a cut in annual spending of $1.6 trillion in the United States in terms of its economic impact.
The piece also asserts that “leaders in the rest of Europe do not want to join or, more important, finance the Greek-led revolt.” Actually the financing is going from Greece to the rest of Europe since Greece is now running a primary budget surplus. That means that the government is collecting enough revenue to finance its spending, excluding interest payments. It is the size of the interest payments, which go primarily from Greece to the European Union, European Central Bank, and I.M.F. that is at issue. Greece is not asking for additional money from the rest of Europe. In the event that Greece leaves the euro the payments on its debt will almost certainly stop altogether, so the question is how much financing the rest of Europe gets from Greece, not how much financing Greece gets from Europe.
Comments