Papademos named new Greek prime minister

64-year-old Papademos is a former vice president of the European Central Bank.

B92

So we have a banker at the helm of Greece and i would imagine there would be one at the helm of Italy soon to catrry out the dirty work of the European elites.The bankers don't have any more pretentions so they came out into the open to replace their political puppets.

There is no Papa...whatever that's going to save greeks. Until they change their backward byzantine, unproductive and lazy mentality and lifestyle they will be in debt and a bail out nation for ever. They have been bailed out for the last 200 yrs. And now they still think they have merit in the high life they have enjoyed......and take the streets to protest against measures that will make them work harder.

Let's see how they will be bulling their neigbors now, and act cocky and dismissive. It is all a payback for their sins and arrogance. You reap what you sow.
(Denis, 10 November 2011 16:10)

Anyone reading your poisonous racist comments knows that you have your own anti-Greek agenda which is determined by hate and total ignorance.Incidentally your comments appear only when the article is about Greece and not the rest of the Eurozone which suffer from the same disease as Greece does.This disease is not debt but competitiveness.

Since the inception of Euro the Southern European countries have become increasingly less able to live with a strong Euro and unable to compete in the markets.This lack of competitiveness created pressures on Southern Europeans which in turn led to indebtedness.In simple terms they cannot grow fast to have any chance paying off their debts.

Austerity was the bankers medicine from the outset.Hence cuts in real wages to a low level(by at least 30%) to make those countries competitive again-that is the theory.But both the Germans and the French know that austerity might deal with the symptom but not with the disease(one size fits all competitiveness).No matter what people like yourself are saying the Euro is finished.It's just a matter of time.

FYI the Greeks have survived centuries of darkness imposed on them by your Ottoman brothers and your German allies in World war II.They are survivors and they will make it again.Just worry about your Albanian brothers.

I don't understand my Greek brothers. why you need the e u you have lived without it for so long.and survived. it is a bankrupt & corrupt organization. all they do is take and give nothing back I wish my Greek brothers peace and prosperity..c c c c

There is no Papa...whatever that's going to save greeks. Until they change their backward byzantine, unproductive and lazy mentality and lifestyle they will be in debt and a bail out nation for ever. They have been bailed out for the last 200 yrs. And now they still think they have merit in the high life they have enjoyed......and take the streets to protest against measures that will make them work harder.

Let's see how they will be bulling their neigbors now, and act cocky and dismissive. It is all a payback for their sins and arrogance. You reap what you sow.

You seem to have a pretty simplistic approach to the problems of competitiveness.Hard work on its own doesn't achieve anything,you need technology know-how transfer,investment and low wage costs.Greece had neither and since globalization is a zero-sum game Greek business moved in droves to Ukraine,Fyrom,Bulgaria,Romania and even Egypt.

Under the Ottomans the Albanian Ali Pasha of Tepelena and his battalions of Albanian janissaries were terrorising Epirus and Thessaly and destroyed Souli.Christian Orthdox Arvanite have nothing to do with Albanians.In fact it's very offensive to brand an Arvanite as Albanian in Greece.
(Leonidas, 11 November 2011 01:29)

It seems that albanians and falsification go hand in hand weather it is history,some documents or watered up ouzo.I wonder when they will claim that Niki Lauda was of albanian origin.Also take into account that many albanians involved in crime activity were deported from Greece and may not enter Schengen zone at all.These guys are very angry with you and will take any oportunity to badmouth greeks on such forums.

@ denis. another albanian troll spewing garbage.....don't worry Greece. you'll be fine .you are the oldest country in europe this will pass. stay strong ...

(Denis, 10 November 2011 22:21)

You say the rest of Eurozone can't compare to Greece because you haven't been to any Eurozone country affected by the crisis.A visit down to Costas in Spain where you see thousands of abandoned unfinished construction sites tells you a lot about the economy in Spain.There are currently more than 1 million unsold houses in Spain and the current level of unemployment is 23%-that is the figure of people claiming unemployment benefit.Portugal and Ireland don't fare any better.

You insinuate that Greece runs some kind of a communist economic model which is far away from the truth.On 2010 figures the public sector employed approximately 800 thousand people on a total workforce of 4.5 million.I have mentioned in the past that Greece had a public sector crisis with corrupt civil service and corrupt trade unions that serve only vested interests.It will be a tall order for any government to break the linkages of those vested interests.

You seem to have a pretty simplistic approach to the problems of competitiveness.Hard work on its own doesn't achieve anything,you need technology know-how transfer,investment and low wage costs.Greece had neither and since globalization is a zero-sum game Greek business moved in droves to Ukraine,Fyrom,Bulgaria,Romania and even Egypt.

Under the Ottomans the Albanian Ali Pasha of Tepelena and his battalions of Albanian janissaries were terrorising Epirus and Thessaly and destroyed Souli.Christian Orthdox Arvanite have nothing to do with Albanians.In fact it's very offensive to brand an Arvanite as Albanian in Greece.

Arvanites are NOT "Albanians." Albanianism was created 200-300 years ago. we have been around for a lot longer than that. Our ancestors were Greeks and we are Greeks. Kosovo is Serbia.

Arvanites were greeks? Really? Which dialect of Greek did they exactly speak? Arvanites, Arbanites, Albanians, Arberesh, Arbanoi etc are all the same people from the same roots, and ALL speak ALBANIAN (tosk dialiect) not Greek. And without them you would not even have a modern state, as they were the absolute leaders of Greece during that period, that is why Albanian language lost by one vote in Greek parlament in 1822, in becoming the second official language of Greece. As much as it hurts me to say this - you might be more Albanian than you think, just ask your grandmother.
(Denis, 11 November 2011 16:16)

They speak the same dialect as the Greeks in Northern and South Epirus.I had Arvanites friends at school and also socialising with them and i can't recall anyone of them claiming to be Albanian.
My question to you is have you met a single Greek Arvanit who claimed to be Albanian? In fact Greek Arvanites regard modern Albanians as remnants of the Ottoman empire and this is also supported by statistical evidence showing there are actually more Albanians living in Turkey than Albania. Modern Turkey regards Albanians,Bosnians and other Muslims still living in the Balkans as Turks.Your story about Arvanites is similar to the Illyrian ancestry that modern Albanians claim.

(Leonidas, 10 November 2011 20:18)

The rest of Eurozone can't even compare to Greece. Eurozone just like US have massive debts, but their debt is backed up by a competetive economy, productive workforce, a genuine "know how" etc unlike Greece. Greece was a typical abuser of debt, and it used it to forge a "nanny state" and parasitic society based on gov jobs and gov run economy, instead of engaging the private sector,and making it more competitive.

The mere fact that Greeks today protest en masse against privatization and for a Gov run economy says a lot about it. In fact when Euro took over Greece prefered to shelter its workforce by employing it into the uncompetitive public sector instead of investing in the private one.

Greeks didn't want to work in the private sector cuz of course that meant longer workdays, and less buziqis, something Greeks are not ready to do without some whining.

So yes, it is a matter of competivness, and hard work and productivity, but looks like no matter if it is Euro of Drachma, greeks will never be able to compete without some shelter, just like they never have. As a single stand alone market Greece will have no leverage to sign fair trade agreements, and will be competing against countries that do not follow the rules, with lower cost of production, and much competitive workforce. Outside Eurozone, and EU protection, Greece will be a sitting duck.

Under the Ottomans, Greece was a non-entity, but yes it did survive just like all other nations. It needed the Great powers and the blood of my Albanian brothers (Arvanites) to become a modern state. So far it has survived only on others' merits, we will see what the future brings.

You seem to have a pretty simplistic approach to the problems of competitiveness.Hard work on its own doesn't achieve anything,you need technology know-how transfer,investment and low wage costs.Greece had neither and since globalization is a zero-sum game Greek business moved in droves to Ukraine,Fyrom,Bulgaria,Romania and even Egypt.

Under the Ottomans the Albanian Ali Pasha of Tepelena and his battalions of Albanian janissaries were terrorising Epirus and Thessaly and destroyed Souli.Christian Orthdox Arvanite have nothing to do with Albanians.In fact it's very offensive to brand an Arvanite as Albanian in Greece.
(Leonidas, 11 November 2011 01:29)

Greece as a "developed" country is and was not suppose to compete on low wages, but on high productivity and know how. The investoment outflow Greece experienced was something very normal for all developed countries. But although Greece borrowed $billions it did not achieve neither, the know how or technological advantage thus higher productivity. It indeed inflated it's public sector and lived on non-producing industries like transport and tourism, both declined in the last decade.

Unemployment, poverty, unsold properties, devastetion you will find even in US, but not the lack of responsibility, anti-work and anti-competitive mind set you find in Greece.

What is interesting is that Greeks even now don't want to compete in the private sector, so they protest against any privatization or loss of unearned benefits.

You forget to say that Ali Pasha send its army to consolidate its rule over the Albanian population of Epirus and albanian speaking Souliotes, so he could sucessfully fight the Turks something that inspired and woke you up.Indeed you needed the Great Powers to fight them for you first.

Arvanites were greeks? Really? Which dialect of Greek did they exactly speak? Arvanites, Arbanites, Albanians, Arberesh, Arbanoi etc are all the same people from the same roots, and ALL speak ALBANIAN (tosk dialiect) not Greek. And without them you would not even have a modern state, as they were the absolute leaders of Greece during that period, that is why Albanian language lost by one vote in Greek parlament in 1822, in becoming the second official language of Greece. As much as it hurts me to say this - you might be more Albanian than you think, just ask your grandmother.

There is no Papa...whatever that's going to save greeks. Until they change their backward byzantine, unproductive and lazy mentality and lifestyle they will be in debt and a bail out nation for ever. They have been bailed out for the last 200 yrs. And now they still think they have merit in the high life they have enjoyed......and take the streets to protest against measures that will make them work harder.

Let's see how they will be bulling their neigbors now, and act cocky and dismissive. It is all a payback for their sins and arrogance. You reap what you sow.

(Leonidas, 10 November 2011 20:18)

The rest of Eurozone can't even compare to Greece. Eurozone just like US have massive debts, but their debt is backed up by a competetive economy, productive workforce, a genuine "know how" etc unlike Greece. Greece was a typical abuser of debt, and it used it to forge a "nanny state" and parasitic society based on gov jobs and gov run economy, instead of engaging the private sector,and making it more competitive.

The mere fact that Greeks today protest en masse against privatization and for a Gov run economy says a lot about it. In fact when Euro took over Greece prefered to shelter its workforce by employing it into the uncompetitive public sector instead of investing in the private one.

Greeks didn't want to work in the private sector cuz of course that meant longer workdays, and less buziqis, something Greeks are not ready to do without some whining.

So yes, it is a matter of competivness, and hard work and productivity, but looks like no matter if it is Euro of Drachma, greeks will never be able to compete without some shelter, just like they never have. As a single stand alone market Greece will have no leverage to sign fair trade agreements, and will be competing against countries that do not follow the rules, with lower cost of production, and much competitive workforce. Outside Eurozone, and EU protection, Greece will be a sitting duck.

Under the Ottomans, Greece was a non-entity, but yes it did survive just like all other nations. It needed the Great powers and the blood of my Albanian brothers (Arvanites) to become a modern state. So far it has survived only on others' merits, we will see what the future brings.

64-year-old Papademos is a former vice president of the European Central Bank.

B92

So we have a banker at the helm of Greece and i would imagine there would be one at the helm of Italy soon to catrry out the dirty work of the European elites.The bankers don't have any more pretentions so they came out into the open to replace their political puppets.

You seem to have a pretty simplistic approach to the problems of competitiveness.Hard work on its own doesn't achieve anything,you need technology know-how transfer,investment and low wage costs.Greece had neither and since globalization is a zero-sum game Greek business moved in droves to Ukraine,Fyrom,Bulgaria,Romania and even Egypt.

Under the Ottomans the Albanian Ali Pasha of Tepelena and his battalions of Albanian janissaries were terrorising Epirus and Thessaly and destroyed Souli.Christian Orthdox Arvanite have nothing to do with Albanians.In fact it's very offensive to brand an Arvanite as Albanian in Greece.
(Leonidas, 11 November 2011 01:29)

Greece as a "developed" country is and was not suppose to compete on low wages, but on high productivity and know how. The investoment outflow Greece experienced was something very normal for all developed countries. But although Greece borrowed $billions it did not achieve neither, the know how or technological advantage thus higher productivity. It indeed inflated it's public sector and lived on non-producing industries like transport and tourism, both declined in the last decade.

Unemployment, poverty, unsold properties, devastetion you will find even in US, but not the lack of responsibility, anti-work and anti-competitive mind set you find in Greece.

What is interesting is that Greeks even now don't want to compete in the private sector, so they protest against any privatization or loss of unearned benefits.

You forget to say that Ali Pasha send its army to consolidate its rule over the Albanian population of Epirus and albanian speaking Souliotes, so he could sucessfully fight the Turks something that inspired and woke you up.Indeed you needed the Great Powers to fight them for you first.

Arvanites were greeks? Really? Which dialect of Greek did they exactly speak? Arvanites, Arbanites, Albanians, Arberesh, Arbanoi etc are all the same people from the same roots, and ALL speak ALBANIAN (tosk dialiect) not Greek. And without them you would not even have a modern state, as they were the absolute leaders of Greece during that period, that is why Albanian language lost by one vote in Greek parlament in 1822, in becoming the second official language of Greece. As much as it hurts me to say this - you might be more Albanian than you think, just ask your grandmother.

I don't understand my Greek brothers. why you need the e u you have lived without it for so long.and survived. it is a bankrupt & corrupt organization. all they do is take and give nothing back I wish my Greek brothers peace and prosperity..c c c c

There is no Papa...whatever that's going to save greeks. Until they change their backward byzantine, unproductive and lazy mentality and lifestyle they will be in debt and a bail out nation for ever. They have been bailed out for the last 200 yrs. And now they still think they have merit in the high life they have enjoyed......and take the streets to protest against measures that will make them work harder.

Let's see how they will be bulling their neigbors now, and act cocky and dismissive. It is all a payback for their sins and arrogance. You reap what you sow.
(Denis, 10 November 2011 16:10)

Anyone reading your poisonous racist comments knows that you have your own anti-Greek agenda which is determined by hate and total ignorance.Incidentally your comments appear only when the article is about Greece and not the rest of the Eurozone which suffer from the same disease as Greece does.This disease is not debt but competitiveness.

Since the inception of Euro the Southern European countries have become increasingly less able to live with a strong Euro and unable to compete in the markets.This lack of competitiveness created pressures on Southern Europeans which in turn led to indebtedness.In simple terms they cannot grow fast to have any chance paying off their debts.

Austerity was the bankers medicine from the outset.Hence cuts in real wages to a low level(by at least 30%) to make those countries competitive again-that is the theory.But both the Germans and the French know that austerity might deal with the symptom but not with the disease(one size fits all competitiveness).No matter what people like yourself are saying the Euro is finished.It's just a matter of time.

FYI the Greeks have survived centuries of darkness imposed on them by your Ottoman brothers and your German allies in World war II.They are survivors and they will make it again.Just worry about your Albanian brothers.

@ denis. another albanian troll spewing garbage.....don't worry Greece. you'll be fine .you are the oldest country in europe this will pass. stay strong ...

(Denis, 10 November 2011 22:21)

You say the rest of Eurozone can't compare to Greece because you haven't been to any Eurozone country affected by the crisis.A visit down to Costas in Spain where you see thousands of abandoned unfinished construction sites tells you a lot about the economy in Spain.There are currently more than 1 million unsold houses in Spain and the current level of unemployment is 23%-that is the figure of people claiming unemployment benefit.Portugal and Ireland don't fare any better.

You insinuate that Greece runs some kind of a communist economic model which is far away from the truth.On 2010 figures the public sector employed approximately 800 thousand people on a total workforce of 4.5 million.I have mentioned in the past that Greece had a public sector crisis with corrupt civil service and corrupt trade unions that serve only vested interests.It will be a tall order for any government to break the linkages of those vested interests.

You seem to have a pretty simplistic approach to the problems of competitiveness.Hard work on its own doesn't achieve anything,you need technology know-how transfer,investment and low wage costs.Greece had neither and since globalization is a zero-sum game Greek business moved in droves to Ukraine,Fyrom,Bulgaria,Romania and even Egypt.

Under the Ottomans the Albanian Ali Pasha of Tepelena and his battalions of Albanian janissaries were terrorising Epirus and Thessaly and destroyed Souli.Christian Orthdox Arvanite have nothing to do with Albanians.In fact it's very offensive to brand an Arvanite as Albanian in Greece.

Arvanites are NOT "Albanians." Albanianism was created 200-300 years ago. we have been around for a lot longer than that. Our ancestors were Greeks and we are Greeks. Kosovo is Serbia.

You seem to have a pretty simplistic approach to the problems of competitiveness.Hard work on its own doesn't achieve anything,you need technology know-how transfer,investment and low wage costs.Greece had neither and since globalization is a zero-sum game Greek business moved in droves to Ukraine,Fyrom,Bulgaria,Romania and even Egypt.

Under the Ottomans the Albanian Ali Pasha of Tepelena and his battalions of Albanian janissaries were terrorising Epirus and Thessaly and destroyed Souli.Christian Orthdox Arvanite have nothing to do with Albanians.In fact it's very offensive to brand an Arvanite as Albanian in Greece.
(Leonidas, 11 November 2011 01:29)

It seems that albanians and falsification go hand in hand weather it is history,some documents or watered up ouzo.I wonder when they will claim that Niki Lauda was of albanian origin.Also take into account that many albanians involved in crime activity were deported from Greece and may not enter Schengen zone at all.These guys are very angry with you and will take any oportunity to badmouth greeks on such forums.

Arvanites were greeks? Really? Which dialect of Greek did they exactly speak? Arvanites, Arbanites, Albanians, Arberesh, Arbanoi etc are all the same people from the same roots, and ALL speak ALBANIAN (tosk dialiect) not Greek. And without them you would not even have a modern state, as they were the absolute leaders of Greece during that period, that is why Albanian language lost by one vote in Greek parlament in 1822, in becoming the second official language of Greece. As much as it hurts me to say this - you might be more Albanian than you think, just ask your grandmother.
(Denis, 11 November 2011 16:16)

They speak the same dialect as the Greeks in Northern and South Epirus.I had Arvanites friends at school and also socialising with them and i can't recall anyone of them claiming to be Albanian.
My question to you is have you met a single Greek Arvanit who claimed to be Albanian? In fact Greek Arvanites regard modern Albanians as remnants of the Ottoman empire and this is also supported by statistical evidence showing there are actually more Albanians living in Turkey than Albania. Modern Turkey regards Albanians,Bosnians and other Muslims still living in the Balkans as Turks.Your story about Arvanites is similar to the Illyrian ancestry that modern Albanians claim.