Referendum in Greece on Bailout

Exactly how much is Greece in the hole? Cursory searches do not seem to turn up the figure. How much does this tiny country of ten million owe? A trillion euros? A quadrillion? A googolplex squared?

Wikipedia references this blog which gives the number as 216 billion Euros:

http://seekingalpha.com/article/183820-greek-debt-concerns-dominate-who-will-be-next

Originally posted by rwingett
That's the way all decisions should be made.

Originally posted by Eladar
If they do that, then who will pay for their social programs?

It isn't going to be the Greeks, they can't afford those programs.

Originally posted by KazetNagorra
Yawn. Of course they can afford it, they just need to want to afford it.

Originally posted by quackquack
Would you agree that the crux of the problem is that they don't seem to want to afford it?

Originally posted by KazetNagorra
Direct democracy fails, as is obvious in California and to a lesser degree in Switzerland (they don't hold referendums on budget-related issues) because there is no mechanism to weigh preferences.

Originally posted by KazetNagorra
The crux of the problem is that Greek politicians are corrupt crooks who are unwilling to take the necessary measures (tackle tax evasion, significantly raise taxes on the rich) because they and their friends would be personally inconvenienced. In addition they cooked the books and deceived fellow eurozone members who naively let them into the euro.

Originally posted by quackquack
Assumming that there is no immediate reversal: the government remains a corrupt and is unwilling to take the necessary measures what would you like to happen?

Originally posted by rwingett
Yes, far better to leave everything up to unelected bankers, economists and technocrats. That's worked wonders so far.

Originally posted by KazetNagorra
No, it's far better to leave everything up to elected politicians.

Originally posted by rwingett
...who are elected to serve the people, but end up taking their marching orders from the unelected bankers, economists and technocrats.

Originally posted by AThousandYoung
Wikipedia references this blog which gives the number as 216 billion Euros:

http://seekingalpha.com/article/183820-greek-debt-concerns-dominate-who-will-be-next

So the Greeks are being hit with more austerity - why shouldn't they vote on the package?

One of the reasons why people have problems with the EU is that people feel it is undemocratic - at least an election or referendum would give some authority and mandate to the decisions that are being made on our behalf by our politicians.

if its anything like the bank bail out in england, they lost the money then after the goverment bailed them they gave themselves bonuses?? a similar happening in greece??