The Greek general election is just around the corner, and as expectations for a Greek overhaul, if not outright Grexit, rise so does the rhetoric by the man who, barring an act of god or Diebold, will be the next Greek premier: Alexis Tsipras, who some see as the catalyst for a Grexit, while others describe as merely yet another apparatchik of the Troika. Overnight Tsipras wrote an op-ed article in Germany’s Handelsblatt newspaper, summarized by Bloomberg [4], in which he said the notion that Greece’s economy has stabilized is an “arbitrary distortion of the facts.” He said that while the economy grew 0.7 percent in the third quarter, the recession isn’t over because of 1.8% deflation.
Psst: whatever you do, don't call it deflation. "Negative Inflation" is the preferred nomenclature [5], or better yet: " [6]Joyflation [6]."
Some of his other pearls: "We’re facing a shameful embellishment of the statistics to justify the effectiveness of troika policies."
Clearly writing to a German audience, Tsipras said that "German taxpayers have nothing to fear from a Syriza government. Our goal is not to seek confrontation with our partners, more credits or a blank check for new deficits."
So what exactly is his goal, aside from promising lower taxes and other things which the Greek government will be unable to achieve absent a surge in external funding, especially now, as we explained before, the Greeks have stopped paying their taxes entirely in advance of the elections?
"The truth is that Greece’s debt cannot be repaid as long as our economy is subjected to constant fiscal waterboarding,” Tsipras said in Handelsblatt.
Sorry, the truth is that Greek debt cannot be repaid, period.
