Some readers asked why, if Greece was unlikely to get money back from the owners of capital now being squirreled away in banks in Zurich, New York and London, should any new, anti-austerity government elected in the general election next April, demand that these funds are returned? (See 'Plan B' 14 Feb 2012.) Adjoined to that question came another. Why wouldn't the new government repudiate all foreign debt immediately?
Of course it will be for the Greek government and the Greek people to decide, in such a moment, what tactic to employ in what is likely to be a running set of skirmishes with big capital. However, opening up on all fronts is rarely successful as a preliminary choice in a battle.
On January 19 2012 the IMF issued a report on Greece stating that their foreign currency assets (which are not official reserve assets) amounted to $1.304 TRILLION. Ok. It might be sensible to make the point that Greek foreign debt could be repaid if only foreign holdings were re-patriated. Let the Greek billionaires pay ... the West's billionaires! The intention of the government, it could be claimed, was to pay its debts. They might borrow a phrase to sum up their very accommodating position. Surely we are all in this together? Such a stance might create a better atmosphere to launch the very necessary new international loans which will be desperately needed to re-start domestic investment, employment and social welfare. It also gives Greeks and the world a clear signal of where the problem of Greek debt really lies. It also creates precious time.
Just a thought.
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