Catalonia was the third province to ‘not-get-a-bailout-I-swear’ actually and Italy is going to probably exit the euro anyway when Berlesconi gets back in (which will be hilarious) but might have had to get a bailout before then anyway.
But remember, the first rule of bailout-club is we don’t talk about bailout-club.
Don’t hurry up and break up Eurozone unless we want everything to get fucked up. As in 25% of GDP fucked up. Anyway, apparently the Greek pension age will be raised by a year because cutting the arms-buying program is a no go. These exports don’t stay propped up if the buyers stop buying.
I honestly believe Greece, Spain and probably Ireland and Portugal (and maybe Italy) would be better off outside the eurozone right now - the rising unemployment and lack of control over the currency + other factors (like the fact that Spain’s employment boom was based, even more than Ireland, on a housing boom) means that we basically are fucked - not to mention that there is no way any of these countries will be allowed to default while in the euro which is what will probably end up being needed.
You’re free to disagree but man I’d love to hear what the arguments for the countries staying in the euro are, because I am not convinced at all. As if everything isn’t fucked up already, and getting more fucked up.
The problem with the EU is that its a union and it isn’t. The lack of coordination and discipline amongst its different members is responsible for this. What’s happening is indicative of the need for stronger central institutions on their part if they want to survive, but this is never going to happen, no one will want this to impact their sovereignty.
Its kind of amazing it hasn’t completely fallen apart yet. More so that it might not.
Portugal and Rhode Island should just form a new country and call it Rhode Portugal. It will export bitterness at the rate it imports underappreciation. It will also be pretty much the same place.
Rhode Island and the Portugal Plantations.
Plantations? You bastard!
Hey! Hey! In the case of Rhode Island, they weren’t that kind of. . . oh, yeah, Portugal. Yeah, that kind of plantation.
It’s Rhode Island’s official name, you spudsucker!
+1
I nominate Germany. Coordination and discipline are, like, our cue words! …what? It’s all about ambition and experience! And US, stay out of our business this time, plzkthx
Fine. But no more sinking our ships when Brittan wants us to supply them for their war effort against you (you know that they’ll never willingly knuckle down under any centralized European government unless they’re running the show).
You know they’re just going to break up in like, 10 years or so.
The British better keep their damn ships away from my paneuropean dominion. I have no ambitions to include them in my EU domination plans; they weren’t/aren’t in the EU to begin with and are always running their own show, so they can keep their bloody island. There’s nothing there but rain and weird little dogs anyway. Well and tea, but you’re the experts when it comes to dumping that stuff into the open sea, we had nothing to do with that.
You’d take the Brits and the Scots if you had to, you just don’t want the Irish. Admit it.
Portugal is alright in my book. Rhode Island can suck a dick because who gives a fuck about them
Not true, I like the Irish. Everybody likes the Irish! They may keep their freedom and we’ll be on friendly terms so I can come visit every now and then. Besides, I have an Irish friend who’s a bit of nationalist and he has his own plans for Ireland already (unite the Island, get rid of the English language entirely, exalt revenge on England, apologize to the Picts, go back to a tribal/clan form of “government”, stuff like that) and I’m thrilled to see how that works out.
slams hands down on table dramatically
GENTLEMEN! Do you not see that this is a sign? Clearly, since all other established nations are collapsing, we could take this opportunity to band together and establish our own sovereign state!
Sod that, if the nations are crumbling that means the net will be down for a while.
That’s a lot of porn that needs downloading, dammit.
“From ‘Gateway to Europe’ to ‘Gateway to Porn’: The Irish Miracle of 2012”
That could be one of our exports.