Exploding the myth of the feckless, lazy Greeks

[girl gone mad]

187. Taxes keep money in the economy?

When Greece collects taxes, much of the money is now used to pay off foreign creditors. It leaves the Greek economy and goes to German, French, American, etc. banks.

Really silly arguments you are making here.

Again, Greece cannot be competitive within the union and the fact that Greece must accumulate debts to fund its government is built in to the deeply flawed structure of the EMU. This is why it's a mistake to sign away currency sovereignty unless you happen to be a manufacturing export powerhouse who can negotiate a highly competitive exchange rate.

If the plan was merely to raise taxes on the wealthy, you might have a point, but there is no such plan and the wealthy in Greece could not cover the debts, so the plan is always to raise taxes on workers, students, the middle class and the poor. The tens of millions deposited in Swiss banks would not make a dent in the debt. Greece should take steps to improve tax collections only if it returns to the drachma. Doing so while still on the euro will simply worsen their depression.