^At a gross level this lose-lose comes down to improper concentration of economic powers.
I believe that the concept of the "Euro/Eurozone" needs to be strengthened into a true secular union of states (United States of Europe?) or disintegrated, instead of a half measure where monetary policy is centralized, but Fiscal Policy is localized to the separate countries, (leading to low unconditional lending rates for errant countries like Greece; think of it as them using their rich cousin Germany's credit card) leading to a lot of benefit and no accountability for the few select nations with others pulling their weight. This is a rather unpopular option because this takes away a major sovereign domain of nations, making them more like states.
The other option is of course the older way with separate currencies, where they'd be completely responsible for the heath of the currency and not just benefactors.
They
must choose between their
economic sovereignty or the
potential economic growth benefit derived from the union. I think the crisis has proven that we can't have both.
"The political institutions and practices that have grown up around the euro and the EU are based on the belief that exercises of sovereignty are dangerous, irresponsible, and unaccountable. Although these institutions are in one sense nothing more than the product of agreements between nations, their raison d’être is to prevent any further, outright expression of that sovereign power. That is why they insist on total subjection to their decisions, and why Greece became about more than Greece."
This article perhaps sums it up the best, even if it's a shade too red here and there. (Advocates for the latter - Criticizing the half-ass implementation of the Euro)
You Can’t Be Pro-Euro and Anti-Austerity - Jacobin
What do you think about this piece?
Chou Toshio
Also for reference, here are the terms of the Euro-Summit agreement that Greece was literally detained into signing. Though I believe this is for the greater good, we definitely need a step addressing what I mentioned in the first para, to avoid having to force errant nations to toe the line using 'diplomatic terrorism' -:
http://yanisvaroufakis.eu/2015/07/1...ment-on-greece-annotated-by-yanis-varoufakis/
I would say the statement "You can't be Pro-Euro and Anti-Austerity" is ultimately true. I personally don't like the views of the author of the article you posted, who criticizes the treatment of Greece, calling the terms "torture" and paint the agreement as stomping on democracy and a strip of sovereignty. Again, this was never a topic of democracy, nor is the EU stripping away Greece's sovereignty at all, rather it's the opposite.
It's BECAUSE all the European countries are sovereign nations that Austerity need be harsh-- because the debt holders and regulators are not accountable to the Greek voters.
This is different from the United States, where some states are actually covering others' deficits when looking at state-by-state Federal taxes. Federal government and financial regulation are accountable to all the states, and must consider the well-being of the nation, and no state has the legal right to leave the Union either.
It is because Greece is a sovereign country, with its own fiscal policy and right to rule that it is an entity responsible for itself, and must be held accountable by its business and political partners. It is because Greece is sovereign and could ultimately say "Fuck off" to any 'laws' Europe tries to implement, that austerity agreement is the ONLY way for debt holders to instill discipline.
That would be why => You can't be pro-Euro and anti-Austerity
As for the degree of severity and stringency in the agreement... This comes down to a most basic and fundamental principle of lending-- the lower your trust, the higher your interest rate.
The more uncertainty the lender takes on, the less he trusts the borrower, the more he has to charge the borrower in order to make the loan. It's going to be stricter, come with more conditions and stipulations, strings attached, and a much more expensive rate.
People wonder why the deal now is harsher than the ones offered to the Greek's before their referendum, but this is the simple answer-- when Prime Minister Tsiparas walked away from negotiations and said "fuck off, because Democracy!!!" (huh? Democracy?) he shot down any and all trust of his creditors-- made it worse anyway. By being erratic, he added more uncertainty and lowered trust.
more uncertainty = more conditions, higher interest rates
less trust = more conditions, higher interest rates
Plus, it's human nature to want to beat this dumb ass over the head with an iron pole. The idea the referendum would put Greece in a better position are completely idiotic-- he should have at least made a referendum that gave him the authority to say "fuck it" and leave the Euro.
