Is Greece And Spain Becoming Failed States?

Protesters take part in a sit-in during a demonstration outside Madrid's Parliament, September 26, 2012. World markets improved slightly, Thursday morning, though investors remain worried about violent protests in Spain and Greece. Susana Vera/Reuters

Euro Turning Greece And Spain Into Failed States -- Robin Shepherd, The Commentator

Jobless rates in Spain and Greece have reached staggering proportions. And as long as these countries retain the euro, the prospects of recovery are slim.

Barely had European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso declared yesterday that the worst of the eurozone crisis was behind us than the European statistical office, Eurostat, released the kind of unemployment data that could make your hair stand up on end.

Greece and Spain, the figures showed, now have jobless rates of 26 and 26.6 percent respectively.

The more you look into it the worse it gets. Since November 2011, the Spanish unemployment rate has risen by 3.6 percentage points while Greece's unemployment rate has soared by 7.1 percentage points.

The trend, in other words, is emphatically upwards. Few could be surprised if either or both of these countries passed the 30 percent mark by the end of this year.

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My Comment: It may be convenient for some to blame the euro for the mess that exists in these countries .... but the sad fact is that it is the voters in these countries who voted in the politicians and their programs that put these countries into the mess that they are in right now. Before the crisis hit everyone in Europe knew that these countries had a culture of corruption, a habit of profligate spending and expanding entitlements that were not sustainable .... followed then by more spending and debt. So that when the perfect storm finally hit in 2008 .... no surprise .... everything collapsed.

Both Spain and Greece will not turn into failed states .... that in fact one day they will find their way .... my prediction .... I give it another 10 - 15 years. (I say 10 - 15 years because it is took that long for Russia to solve it's debt and financial/unemployment crisis when the old Soviet Union broke down).