Today the IMF and Europe agreed to a €130 billion bailout package to Greece.
Greece has been under intense pressure recently. The economic crisis plunged Greece, like many other nations, into tough economic times.
As Greece has maintained consistently high levels of debt over many years, the downturns in their shipping and tourism economies have meant that they have required more and more debt in order to keep paying their bills.
However there has been a catch.
American debt-rating agencies (companies which essentially set out how much it will cost to take out a loan) recently said Greece might not pay back its debts.
Greek Prime-Minster George Papandreou has even stated that Greece is being 'attacked' on purpose.
Speaking in the Guardian he said, "This is an attack on the eurozone by certain other interests, political or financial, and often countries are being used as the weak link, if you like, of the eurozone. We are being targeted, particularly with an ulterior motive or agenda, and of course there is speculation in the world markets."
So few people are lending Greece money. This has made it impossible for Greece to get the loans it needs to keep running the country and pay back the loans it has already taken out.
And the 'shock' of the Greece financial situation is being used to destroy Greece's welfare state in what is being reported as "the most drastic overhaul of a European economy ever attempted."
» continue reading "Greece Bailout: Klein's Shock Doctrine in Action"
"Her specific exposes across six decades of infamy are often excellent, but in her larger ambitions her metaphors betray her."
You have to read to the end of Alexander Cockburn's review of Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine to find that line, which summarizes the case he makes in the preceding pages. Which is, I think, intuitive, though I haven't read the whole thing: Klein's is good journalism, but "shock doctrine" is too tidy to be a lasting theoretical contribution. As a slogan, though, it's brilliant.
The Dominion is a monthly paper published by an incipient network of independent journalists in Canada. It aims to provide accurate, critical coverage that is accountable to its readers and the subjects it tackles. Taking its name from Canada's official status as both a colony and a colonial force, the Dominion examines politics, culture and daily life with a view to understanding the exercise of power.