Syriza Wins in Greece

Expect the U.S. stock market to open lower tomorrow morning. The far-Left Syriza has won the elections in Greece. That means austerity is gone, and with it, perhaps EU money. It’s hard to say at this point.

I would like to think that Greece and the EU will reach some sort of deal to restructure Greece’s debt. No one wants to see the euro go down because of Greece.

Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras said that Greece’s era of bowing to international creditors is over, as he celebrated his party’s victory in Greek elections dominated by a public backlash against years of budget cuts.

Tsipras, addressing supporters in central Athens Sunday night after Prime Minister Antonis Samaras conceded defeat, said that Greece is turning a page and putting austerity behind it. The Syriza government’s priority “will be for Greece and its people to regain their lost dignity,” he said.

“There will neither be a catastrophic clash nor will continued kowtowing be accepted,” said Tsipras, 40. “We are fully aware that the Greek people hasn’t given us carte blanche but a mandate for national revival.”

While Syriza’s victory was more decisive than polls had predicted, it remains unclear whether the party will be able to govern alone. Even with a razor-thin majority or in a fragile coalition, the result hands Tsipras a clear mandate to confront Greece’s program of austerity imposed in return for pledges of 240 billion euros ($269 billion) in aid since May 2010. The challenge for him now is to strike a balance between keeping his election pledges including a writedown of Greek debt and avoiding what Samaras repeatedly warned was the risk of an accidental exit from the euro.

I’m reminded of François Mitterrand’s stunning election victory in 1981. At the time, it was seen as a dramatic turn to the left for France. But once the franc started to plunge, the government quickly reversed course. The world that is has a nasty habit of beating the world that ought to be.

Posted by on January 25th, 2015 at 6:47 pm


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