How a Chinese puzzle could enable the Greeks to have the last laugh
The German/EU offer maintains that the price for staying in the Euro is possibly 10 to 15 years of austerity with no alternative industrial model. There should be no debt forgiveness and there should be years of low to zero growth as the Greeks grind out a meagre existence largely from tourist euros. Because there is no capital, this will occur at a time when Greek tourist assets will plummet and those that are worth something, such as tourist hotels, will be bought off by German and other investors for half nothing.
In time, the Greeks will end up as workers in the tourist industry, working for foreign owners of the assets. The profits from these assets will be repatriated back to Germany, boosting the German current account surplus, while the wages for this labour will be spent in Greece on imported goods, which may or may not be made in Germany. Basically Jamaica with ouzo!
.. Why not do what Ireland has done over the years and adopt some other country’s currency?
What’s in it for China? Everything!
The Chinese get a foothold into Europe. They invest billions into Greece, where they reassemble Chinese goods into Europe with no tariffs or hassle. They gradually move up the value curve, making ever more sophisticated goods in Greece – just as the Americans have done here.
.. After all, Sweden, the UK and Denmark don’t use the Euro and are in the EU, why not Greece?