On Friday as news of the Brussels deal
came through, Germany claimed victory and it is no surprise that most of
the working press bought the claim. They have high authorities to quote
and to rely on. Thus from London The Independent reported:
several analysts agreed that the results of the talks amounted to a humiliating defeat for Greece.
No details followed, the analysts were
unnamed, and their affiliations went unstated – although further down
two were quoted and both work for banks. Many similar examples could be
given, from both sides of the Atlantic.
The New Yorker is another
matter. It is an independent magazine, with a high reputation, written
for a detached audience. And John Cassidy is an analytical reporter.
Readers are inclined to take him seriously and when he gets something
wrong, it matters. Cassidy’s analysis appeared under the headline, “How
Greece Got Outmaneuvered” and his lead paragraph contains this sentence:
Greece’s new left-wing Syriza government had been telling everyone for weeks that it wouldn’t agree to extend the bailout, and that it wanted a new loan agreement that freed its hands, which marks the deal as a capitulation by Syriza and a victory for Germany and the rest of the E.U. establishment.
In fact, there was never any chance for a
loan agreement that would have wholly freed Greece’s hands. Loan
agreements come with conditions. The only choices were an agreement with
conditions, or no agreement and no conditions. The choice had to be
made by February 28, beyond which date ECB support for the Greek banks
would end. No agreement would have meant capital controls, or else bank
failures, debt default, and early exit from the Euro. SYRIZA was not
elected to take Greece out of Europe. Hence, in order to meet electoral
commitments, the relationship between Athens and Europe had to be “extended” in some way acceptable to both.
Read more: Reading The Greek Deal Correctly
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