Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Greek finance minister Varoufakis: 'Austerity has done nothing to solve Greece's problems'

SPIEGEL: Mr. Varoufakis, you have referred to the European Union's bailout policy for Greece as "fiscal waterboarding." What exactly do you mean by that?

Varoufakis: For the past five years, Greece has been subjected to austerity measures that it cannot, under any circumstances, meet. Our country is literally being pushed under water. Just before we suffer an actual cardiac arrest, we are granted a momentary respite. Then we're pushed back under water, and the whole thing starts again. My aim is to end this permanent terror of asphyxiation.

SPIEGEL: Do you really think "waterboarding" is an appropriate metaphor for a rescue package?

Varoufakis: Well, it managed to get your attention, didn't it? So it worked.

SPIEGEL: You are comparing a rescue package with a form of torture the CIA used on prisoners. But Greece was showered with money, not water.

Varoufakis: That money was used to bail out banks, especially banks in Germany and in France, to prevent them from taking losses.

SPIEGEL: Greece would have become insolvent long ago if it hadn't received help.

Varoufakis: The truth of the matter is that 90 percent of that money never arrived in Greece. Full story...

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