You seem to have a very skewed definition of tiny.
The Greek Debt works out to somewhere in the vicinity of $34,000 per person. Not taxpayer, not worker, person which includes, children, the elderly, those in prison, etc.
When you look at it on a per worker basis you're looking at more than $65,000 each. I can't find any quick references to what the median salary in Greece is in USD but it appears to be in the $33,000 - $35,000 range.
While a $65,000 debt is not insurmountable on an income in that range given that it is a sunk cost, that is if the government were to immediately reduce spending to match it's tax receipts it would need to maintain the tax rate higher than the nominal amount needed to pay for services to service it's existing debt. As a sunk cost offers no benefit to the one who has to pay for it and as such will be a considerable drain on their net earnings and economic potential.
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Date: 12/5/10 21:50 (UTC)The Greek Debt works out to somewhere in the vicinity of $34,000 per person. Not taxpayer, not worker, person which includes, children, the elderly, those in prison, etc.
When you look at it on a per worker basis you're looking at more than $65,000 each. I can't find any quick references to what the median salary in Greece is in USD but it appears to be in the $33,000 - $35,000 range.
While a $65,000 debt is not insurmountable on an income in that range given that it is a sunk cost, that is if the government were to immediately reduce spending to match it's tax receipts it would need to maintain the tax rate higher than the nominal amount needed to pay for services to service it's existing debt. As a sunk cost offers no benefit to the one who has to pay for it and as such will be a considerable drain on their net earnings and economic potential.