Sir, – As dismaying as it may be to witness the intransigence of the IMF, ECB and European Commission and their blunt refusal to respect the democratic wishes of the Greek electorate, a cursory glance at the global record of these institutions reveals them to be merely upholding a predictable trend.
Like Greece, in January this year Sri Lanka’s voters had the courage to depose a regime that had entrenched social inequality and economic unfairness while accumulating vast extraneous loans on the public balance sheet.
In March the new Sri Lankan government requested a $4 billion loan from the IMF in order to restructure debt repayments on high-interest Chinese loans negotiated by the previous government and a deferral on existing IMF loan repayments. The IMF rejected both requests outright.
It is not coincidental that this refusal came on the back of a budget pledge by the new Sri Lankan government to implement modest salary and pension increases for public sector employees and a limited increase of social welfare payments in order to somewhat redress the impacts of austerity on the most vulnerable.
To accuse the Greek government of espousing “ideology” in their current negotiations may have some substance, but for the IMF and European institutions to overlook their own ideological pursuit of a race to the bottom is to wilfully disregard recent historical evidence. – Yours, etc, KEVIN McPARLAND, Booterstown, Co Dublin.
Sir, — Watching the 10pm news on BBC this evening I was aghast to hear that a fruit stall trader had reduced the price of his cherries from €2 to €1.50 a kilo. Last Friday I paid €12 a kilo for cherries from Lidl in Carrigaline, Co Cork.
How can such a mark-up be justified? How can the German giant supermarket justify paying such low prices to producers in poorer countries? It is no wonder that Greece is in the economic mess that it now finds itself. – Yours, etc, JOE BURNS, Monkstown, Co Cork. Sir, – Hindsight is a wonderful thing and often involves the use of rose-tinted glasses.
Athens (as opposed to what we call Greece) is considered the first known democratic state in the world.
Athenian democracy was limited to adult male citizens, who probably comprised 20 per cent of the total population; the remainder largely comprising citizens’ families, metics (resident foreigners) and slaves. Needless to say, women did not have the vote.
I am not sure whether this is the ideal for which Prof MacSwiney Brugha (Letters, July 1st) is pining, but I actually prefer the ideals of the EU. – Yours, etc, DAVE ROBBIE Booterstown, Co Dublin.
Sir, – Pity Greece. During this time of crisis it needed statesman-like guidance from a latter-day Themistocles. Instead, the Greek people elected a demagogue more extreme than Cleon the leather cutter.
Poor Greece. Soon to become much, much poorer. – Yours, etc, J JEROME CASEY Chapelizod, Dublin 20.