Greece seals new bailout deal to avoid euro exit

'Toxic' Tsipras... 'I call on you to say a big 'no' to ultimatums, 'no' to blackmail, turn your back on those who would terrorise you'..... 61% of the Greek electorate duly responded, a overwhelming majority drew a line in the sand.

This ludicrous deal is the very definition of eighteenth-century English poet Thomas Gray proverb 'where ignorance is bliss,‘tis folly to be wise.’

Another bailout/loan/deal to a country that's economy is caught in a vice grip imposed by sweeping capital controls, 'currency export' is strictly prohibited the Greek economy relies heavily on the import of raw materials, that will take months to resolve, minimum.

This is a staggering example of continued austerity is historically unprecedented, measures imposed on a economy in free fall will only exasperate the inevitable sovereign default further.

It's good to hear that we might have some resolution to this crisis. Let's hope the reforms are enough to make sure that we aren't here in another 3 years.

From a political standpoint I think the real long term loser from this saga will be Merkel. Her image as a great European leader has been tarnished by this. For all her achievements, history will always remember that when the chips were down, she was busy drawing up her Plan B for how to toss Greece overboard and out of the Euro.

I watched Hollande's press conference and in sharp contrast to Merkel, he spoke about how important Greece was to European cultural identity and how we couldn't just turn our backs on that. He was entirely correct in my opinion. In many ways Europe created this problem because they have always been eager to appropriate the cultural legacy of Greece and everything it stands for into the EU and Eurozone. As the birthplace of western civilization, Greece is always going to get away with things that Latvia cannot. The only lesson that we've learned is that it wasn't as cheap as we had hoped, but in my opinion as a European, it was definitely worth it.

Greece will be auctioning off their assets and small islands as part of the deal. Must be nice to be able to create money by pushing a few buttons and end up owning a country. The central bankers are running this world now.

European Union could have for once swept historic differences aside in accordance with it's origins and mission statement...

To promote and facilitate cooperation between Europeans, at individual, local, regional and national level, and in both the public and private sectors

To listen to its citizens, be accountable to them and work for them in a transparent and decentralised way

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ statement following the conclusion of the Eurozone Summit....

http://www.primeminister.gov.gr/english/2015/07/13/prime-minister-alexis-tsipras-statement-following-the-conclusion-of-the-eurozone-summit/

The cost was exorbitant M3M3M3, I hope your opinion becomes a reality. I am afraid I can't see past the numbers.

@itsonlyrocknroll

Thanks for that, My guess is that despite passing the deal on Wednesday, Greece will try to work around (or backslide, as the Germans might put it) on some points of the agreement in the coming months or years. It's hard to see what else Tsipras could have done when he basically had a gun to his head. I think people in the meetings were describing Tsipras as being 'waterboarded'.

Do you (or anyone) by any chance know where the full text of the agreement is available for download somewhere? I'm guessing you would know where to find it if it is, Thanks.

@Fizzbit, well said and very true. Of course, the European banks who were saved in the last bailout will be happy to finance all of these lucrative deals for European companies.

Hi M3M3M3 ....I believe is the latest detailed 'upper-view' SN, still in Japan, 16:40 Paris...Check later and post if update

Euro Summit Statement - Brussels, 12 July 2015 - SN 4070/15.....

http://www.ara.cat/mon/Lacord-cimera-liders-europeus-Grecia_ARAFIL20150713_0002.pdf

@itsonlyrocknroll, Thanks very much for that, it's very helpful. If my understanding is correct, I find it incredibly bizarre to demand that the Greeks pass everything by Wednesday without releasing the full agreement to the public to ensure that what is being proposed in Greece actually satisfies the agreement.

Maybe you've seen it already but I just read an interesting interview with Varoufakis out today in the New Statesman. Nothing unexpected but alot of interesting behind the scenes details about what was going on.

http://www.newstatesman.com/world-affairs/2015/07/exclusive-yanis-varoufakis-opens-about-his-five-month-battle-save-greece

Athens had infuriated its creditors with actions including a surprise referendum on July 5 in which Greeks overwhelmingly rejected previous bailout terms offered by its creditors.

Of course it did. Oligarchs always hate democracy.

Many thanks,M3M3M3, no I have not seen this, I struggle coming to terms with any of the politics, my role as a secondment was risk assess, report, reconcile possible deviations under conditions of stress should ERM/EMU destabilize, that's it, basically report - little or nothing privileged/confidential, not a client based business relationship.

I will say that so far the EU institutions are concerned, they positively encourage open discussion both externally and internally. Documents procedures clearly marked. But less haste more speed, to force feed Greek primary legislation that requires detailed analysis is worse than foolhardy.

ERM/EMU is like a length of string, numerically speaking connecting member states financially together, where breaks have occurred the ECB has endured by simply knotting the string back together, one should be able to glide a hand smoothly along the length, however in-between the knots sections have become worn/frayed, there is no more elasticity to mend by simply tying another knot.

Those knots are bailouts, since 2008 ten Eurozone member states banks have asked or been afforded bailouts. Spain has requested a credit line above €41bn. Threadbare could be a fair assessment. This summit is an appalling game of charades, politically and economically.

itsonlyrocknroll, you might find this interesting

I will say that so far the EU institutions are concerned, they positively encourage open discussion both externally and internally. Documents procedures clearly marked.

From July 10.

http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/07/10/the-man-who-refused-to-play-by-the-rules-the-real-sins-of-

Worst possible outcome for Greek citizens. Troika kicks the can down the road, heaping MORE unsustainable debt on the already bankrupt Greek government. Bankers and their cronies are happy, for the moment. Can't see this going well.

Many thanks, FizzBit, this one paragraph I think sums up why I struggle with the politics. Varoufakis had a duty to Greece and Greek electorate, democratic principle...

At the heart of the matter is how Varoufakis presented his demands. Thinking of himself as a representative of the Greek people, he made his wishes public, and when in the Eurogroup, he maintained the same stance — changes in views could not be informally agreed around a table but had to be taken back to Athens and argued for, in cabinet and with the Syriza party.

@itsonlyrocknroll -Thanks for the string and knot analogy. It really paints a clear picture of the situation.

@Frederic- Yes, I agree. I suppose the only benefit of kicking the can down the road is that there might be a few more reasonable people around to try to resolve this again in 3 years time.