After the American Century
At first I thought of this as a joke, but it is beginning to look reasonable. The choice for Greece is not either go bankrupt or borrow more money. There is a third choice, a typical capitalist choice, the choice to lease parts of the country for 50 to 100 years. China leased away Hong Kong and got it back, with considerable improvements. Greece could lease a large island like Crete to the German banks, in exchange for wiping out their debts to those banks. The French banks could get Lesbos. I want my bank to lease Corfu.
Even more radically, Greece could sell off some of its smaller islands, with the proviso that the buyer could not sell to anyone else without Greek government permission, and reserving the right to purchase the island back at the market price.
Such plans would make it official. The banks already call the shots in Greece.
I know this sounds a bit strange, but it is somewhat like a corporation selling off some of its divisions in order to survive. No doubt offense to patriots, but surely this is better than bankruptcy.
Don't like that solution? How about this one? All European countries could copy Greece, spending way over budget, and then the Euro zone could devalue by, say 35%. The idea being, if the train is going off the cliff, let's get into first class and enjoy the ride while it lasts.
