Project for Philosophical Evaluations of the Economy |
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Bailing out Greece?
Dialog with the Alter Ego on the EU rescue plan, first drafted on Feb 14, published on Feb. 15, 2010
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Question by Alter Ego of Noah denkt™ (AE): The other day Noah denkt™ told us that it expects Greece to be
able to solve its financial problems on its own. (See our recent dialog “Athens 2004 and the Greek Debt Crisis”) Can we
therefore presume that you consider it to be a mistake that the EU is preparing itself to bail out Greece from its
predicament?
Answer by Noah denkt™ (Nd): Well, to tell you truth, we are of the opinion that it doesn’t matter anymore whether
the EU bails out Greece or whether it doesn’t. In the end, neither decision that might be taken in this context will
be able to stop the big economic tsunami from eventually coming.
AE: That is a very pessimistic view. Why are you so negative as far as the long-term is concerned?
Nd: We are so negative because we keep seeing again and again that human beings all over the world want to
have a good, prosperous life, - that they want to enjoy the beauties of freedom but that they are not willing to pay
the price for that. And that is what is eventually going to come back at us with a vengeance.
AE: What price is it that people supposedly aren’t willing to pay? After all, most of us do go to work every day. And
most of us do work pretty hard at that for that matter.
Nd: Well, hard work alone is not going to save us. What is needed is the willingness to embrace the pain and the
existential risk that is inherent in the creative and independent idea of freedom. And it is this pervasive absence
of an honest search for the meaning of truth and liberty that will eventually cost us dearly.
AE: And bailing out Greece neither aggravates nor softens that hard blow that will eventually come?
Nd: It certainly won’t soften that blow. But then again, that blow will be hard anyway, so it really doesn’t matter if it
is wretched up or down a notch.
AE: So we are pretty much thumbs down on the long-term. What about the short-term effect of the Greek bail-out?
Nd: In the short-term the bail-out will confirm our previous notion that the recent sell-off in the financial markets
was overdone.
AE: But how can a sell-off be overdone, if there is a tsunami looming on the horizon? Nd: Well, you do not want to
go into hiding too soon. The biggest fortunes are being made just before storm breaks.
AE: Is it a reasonable and responsible approach to think that one could correctly anticipate the beginning of a
storm? In other words, is the risk-taking that you are advocating for here still to be viewed as socially sound?
Nd: At least, it serves to illustrate the existential disposition that a true self-determination requires.
AE: So all this risk-taking of yours just serves an educational purpose?
Nd: You could put it like that. But you could also describe it as a high-stakes attempt to demonstrate that our
analysis is fundamentally correct and that it needs to be embraced if we want to enhance our prosperity and well-
being in a sustainable manner.
Dialog with the Alter Ego on the EU rescue plan, first drafted on Feb 14, published on Feb. 15, 2010
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Question by Alter Ego of Noah denkt™ (AE): The other day Noah denkt™ told us that it expects Greece to be
able to solve its financial problems on its own. (See our recent dialog “Athens 2004 and the Greek Debt Crisis”) Can we
therefore presume that you consider it to be a mistake that the EU is preparing itself to bail out Greece from its
predicament?
Answer by Noah denkt™ (Nd): Well, to tell you truth, we are of the opinion that it doesn’t matter anymore whether
the EU bails out Greece or whether it doesn’t. In the end, neither decision that might be taken in this context will
be able to stop the big economic tsunami from eventually coming.
AE: That is a very pessimistic view. Why are you so negative as far as the long-term is concerned?
Nd: We are so negative because we keep seeing again and again that human beings all over the world want to
have a good, prosperous life, - that they want to enjoy the beauties of freedom but that they are not willing to pay
the price for that. And that is what is eventually going to come back at us with a vengeance.
AE: What price is it that people supposedly aren’t willing to pay? After all, most of us do go to work every day. And
most of us do work pretty hard at that for that matter.
Nd: Well, hard work alone is not going to save us. What is needed is the willingness to embrace the pain and the
existential risk that is inherent in the creative and independent idea of freedom. And it is this pervasive absence
of an honest search for the meaning of truth and liberty that will eventually cost us dearly.
AE: And bailing out Greece neither aggravates nor softens that hard blow that will eventually come?
Nd: It certainly won’t soften that blow. But then again, that blow will be hard anyway, so it really doesn’t matter if it
is wretched up or down a notch.
AE: So we are pretty much thumbs down on the long-term. What about the short-term effect of the Greek bail-out?
Nd: In the short-term the bail-out will confirm our previous notion that the recent sell-off in the financial markets
was overdone.
AE: But how can a sell-off be overdone, if there is a tsunami looming on the horizon? Nd: Well, you do not want to
go into hiding too soon. The biggest fortunes are being made just before storm breaks.
AE: Is it a reasonable and responsible approach to think that one could correctly anticipate the beginning of a
storm? In other words, is the risk-taking that you are advocating for here still to be viewed as socially sound?
Nd: At least, it serves to illustrate the existential disposition that a true self-determination requires.
AE: So all this risk-taking of yours just serves an educational purpose?
Nd: You could put it like that. But you could also describe it as a high-stakes attempt to demonstrate that our
analysis is fundamentally correct and that it needs to be embraced if we want to enhance our prosperity and well-
being in a sustainable manner.
| © Landei Selbstverlag, owned by Wilhelm ("Wil") Leonards, Gerolstein, Germany. All rights reserved. Reminder: Noah denkt™ is a project of Wilhelm ("Wil") Leonards and his Landei Selbstverlag (WL & his LSV). Consequently, all rights to the texts that have been published under the Noah denkt™brand name are reserved by WL & his LSV. The commentary and the reasoning that was provided on this page is for informational and/or educational purposes only and it is not intended to provide tax, legal or investment advice. It should therefore not be construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any security or any issuer by WL & his LSV or its Noah denkt™ Project. In fact, WL & his LSV encourage the user to understand that he alone is responsible for determining whether any investment, security or strategy is appropriate or suitable for him. And to leave no doubt as to what this means we urge our user to also note our extended Legal Notice. |
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| Keywords: Greek Debt Crisis, consequences of Greek bailout, consequences of Greek bail-out, moral hazard of a Greek bailout, moral hazard of a Greek bail-out, EU rescue plan for Greece, turmoil in Greek economy, systemic risk of a Greek default, Greek debt problem |