Page 32 - Aruba Today 25 April 2015
P. 32
FROM DE NEW YORK TIMES A31
Saturday 25 April 2015
Greece on the Brink
PAUL KRUGMAN center-left) coalition, which has America Asks: Has the NRA Won?
© 2015 New York Times vowed to change the nation’s
“Don’t you think they want us to course. Can Greek exit from the CHARLES M. BLOW sire keeping the laws as they are member ranks have grown by
fail?” euro be avoided? © 2015 New York Times or loosening gun control. In short, 100,000 in the wake of the De-
That’s the question I kept hear- Yes, it can. The irony of Syriza’s It is now fair to ask whether the we are at a moment when most cember school shooting in New-
ing during a brief but intense visit victory is that it came just at the National Rifle Association is win- Americans believe crime rates town, Connecticut, the organiza-
to Athens. My answer was that point when a workable compro- ning - or has in fact won - this era are rising and when most believe tion told Politico.”
there is no “they” - that Greece mise should be possible. of the gun debate in this country. gun ownership - not gun control - The report continued: “In the
does not, in fact, face a solid The key point is that exiting the Gun control advocates have makes people safer.” week after the shooting, Fox
bloc of implacable creditors euro would be extremely costly tried to use the horror that exists The report adds: “Why public News reported that the NRA was
who would rather see default and disruptive in Greece, and in the wake of mass shootings to views on crime have grown more claiming an average of 8,000
and exit from the euro than let would pose huge political and catalyze the public into action dire is unclear, though many new members a day. High-profile
a leftist government succeed, financial risks for the rest of Eu- around sensible gun restrictions. blame it on the nature of news mass shootings are often followed
that there’s more goodwill on rope. It’s therefore something to But rather than these tragedies coverage, reality TV and politi- by periods of increased interest in
the other side of the table than be avoided if there’s a halfway being a cause for pause in own- cal rhetoric. Whatever the cause, the NRA, but representatives said
many Greeks suppose. decent alternative. And there is, ership of guns, gun ownership this trend is not without conse- this rate was higher than usual.”
But you can understand why or should be. has spiked in the wake of these quence. Today, those who say It was after the Newtown shoot-
Greeks see things that way. And By late 2014 Greece had man- shootings. that crime is rising are the most ing that President Barack Obama
I came away from the visit fear- aged to eke out a small “prima- A striking report released Friday opposed to gun control: Just 45 established a task force, led by
ing that Greece and Europe may ry” budget surplus, with tax re- by the Pew Research Center percent want to see gun laws Vice President Joe Biden, to de-
suffer a terrible accident, an un- ceipts exceeding spending, ex- revealed that “for the first time, made more strict, compared velop a proposal to reduce gun
necessary rupture that will cast cluding interest payments. That’s more Americans say that pro- with 53 percent of those who violence, which the president
long shadows over the future. all that creditors can reasonably tecting gun rights is more impor- see crime rates as unchanged or said he intended to “push with-
The story so far: At the end of demand, since you can’t keep tant than controlling gun owner- dropping.” out delay.”
2009 Greece faced a crisis driven squeezing blood from a stone. ship, 52 percent to 46 percent.” Another cause is most likely the Those proposals, including ex-
by two factors: High debt, and Meanwhile, all those wage cuts One of the reasons cited was intermingling of politics and panded background checks
inflated costs and prices that left have made Greece competi- Americans’ inverse understand- high-profile crimes. As The Chris- (which were characterized as
the country uncompetitive. tive on world markets - or would ing of the reality and percep- tian Science Monitor reported in “misguided” by the NRA’s Chris
Europe responded with loans make it competitive if some sta- tion of crime in this country. As 2012: “As sure as summer follows Cox) and a ban on some semiau-
that kept the cash flowing, but bility can be restored. the report spells out, in the 1990s, spring, gun sales rise after a mass tomatic weapons, were roundly
only on condition that Greece The shape of a deal is therefore people’s perception of the prev- shooting. It happened after the defeated in the Senate, although
pursues extremely painful poli- clear: basically, a standstill on alence of crime fell in concert shooting rampage at Columbine polls showed about 90 percent
cies. These included spend- further austerity, with Greece with actual instances of violent High School in Colorado in 1999. public approval for expanded
ing cuts and tax hikes that, if agreeing to make significant but crime. But since the turn of the It happened after the Tucson, background checks.
imposed on the United States, not ever-growing payments to its century, things have changed: Arizona, shootings last year that In fact, this month The Washing-
would amount to $3 trillion a creditors. Such a deal would set “A majority of Americans (63 per- killed six. Now, after the killing of ton Times reported: “The Ameri-
year. There were also wage cuts the stage for economic recov- cent) said in a Gallup survey last 12 people last week at a movie can firearms industry is as healthy
on a scale that’s hard to fathom, ery, perhaps slow at the start, but year that crime was on the rise, theater in Aurora, Colorado, gun as ever, seeing an unprecedent-
with average wages down 25 finally offering some hope. despite crime statistics holding sales are spiking again - not just in ed surge that has sent produc-
percent from their peak. But right now that deal doesn’t near 20-year lows.” Colorado but around the coun- tion of guns soaring to more than
These immense sacrifices were seem to be coming together. Furthermore, it used to be that try.” 10.8 million manufactured in 2013
supposed to produce recovery. Maybe it’s true, as the creditors the people most worried about It continued: “Self-protection is alone - double the total of just
Instead, the destruction of pur- say, that the new Greek govern- crime favored stricter gun con- part of the reason. But a bigger three years earlier.”
chasing power deepened the ment is hard to deal with. But trol, but “now, they tend to de- factor, say gun dealers, is fear of It continued: “The 2013 surge -
slump, creating Great Depres- what do you expect when par- something else: politicians, spe- the latest for which the govern-
sion-level suffering and a huge ties that have no previous experi- cifically, their ability to enact re- ment has figures - came in the
humanitarian crisis. ence in governing take over from strictions on gun ownership and first full year after the December
On Saturday I visited a shelter a discredited establishment? acquisition of ammunition. When 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook El-
for the homeless, and was told More important, the creditors a high-profile shooting takes ementary School, signaling that
heartbreaking tales of a health are demanding things - big cuts place, invariably the airwaves the push for stricter gun controls,
care system in collapse: patients in pensions and public employ- are full of talk about gun control.” strongly backed by President
turned away from hospitals be- ment - that a newly elected gov- It appears to be an extreme Obama, did little to chill the in-
cause they couldn’t pay the 5 ernment of the left simply can’t example of unintended conse- dustry despite the passage of
euro entrance fee, sent away agree to, as opposed to reforms quences, or a boomerang: The stricter laws in states such as New
without needed medicine be- like an improvement in tax en- more people talk about gun con- York, Maryland, Connecticut and
cause cash-starved clinics had forcement that it can. And the trol, the more people buy guns. California.”
run out, and more. Greeks, as I suggested, are all And not only do gun sales surge, One may begrudge and be-
It has been an endless night- too ready to see these demands but apparently so does NRA moan the fact, but it is hard to
mare, yet Greece’s political es- as part of an effort either to bring membership. As The Huffington deny it: The NRA appears to be
tablishment, determined to stay down their government or to Post reported in 2013: “The Na- winning this round. q
within Europe and fearing the make their country into an exam- tional Rifle Association’s paying
consequences of default and ple of what will happen to other
exit from the euro, stayed with debtor countries if they balk at
the program year after year. Fi- harsh austerity.
nally, the Greek public could To make things even worse, po-
take no more. As creditors de- litical uncertainty is hurting tax
manded yet more austerity - on receipts, probably causing that
a scale that might well have hard-earned primary surplus to
pushed the economy down by evaporate. The sensible thing,
another 8 percent and driven surely, is to show some patience
unemployment to 30 percent - on that front: If and when a deal
the nation voted in Syriza, a gen- is reached, uncertainty will sub-
uinely left-wing (as opposed to side and the budget should im-
prove again. But in the pervasive
atmosphere of distrust, patience
is in short supply.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
True, avoiding a full-blown cri-
sis would require that creditors
advance a significant amount
of cash, albeit cash that would
immediately be recycled into
debt payments. But consider
the alternative. The last thing
Europe needs is for fraying tem-
pers to bring on yet another ca-
tastrophe, this one completely
gratuitous.q
Saturday 25 April 2015
Greece on the Brink
PAUL KRUGMAN center-left) coalition, which has America Asks: Has the NRA Won?
© 2015 New York Times vowed to change the nation’s
“Don’t you think they want us to course. Can Greek exit from the CHARLES M. BLOW sire keeping the laws as they are member ranks have grown by
fail?” euro be avoided? © 2015 New York Times or loosening gun control. In short, 100,000 in the wake of the De-
That’s the question I kept hear- Yes, it can. The irony of Syriza’s It is now fair to ask whether the we are at a moment when most cember school shooting in New-
ing during a brief but intense visit victory is that it came just at the National Rifle Association is win- Americans believe crime rates town, Connecticut, the organiza-
to Athens. My answer was that point when a workable compro- ning - or has in fact won - this era are rising and when most believe tion told Politico.”
there is no “they” - that Greece mise should be possible. of the gun debate in this country. gun ownership - not gun control - The report continued: “In the
does not, in fact, face a solid The key point is that exiting the Gun control advocates have makes people safer.” week after the shooting, Fox
bloc of implacable creditors euro would be extremely costly tried to use the horror that exists The report adds: “Why public News reported that the NRA was
who would rather see default and disruptive in Greece, and in the wake of mass shootings to views on crime have grown more claiming an average of 8,000
and exit from the euro than let would pose huge political and catalyze the public into action dire is unclear, though many new members a day. High-profile
a leftist government succeed, financial risks for the rest of Eu- around sensible gun restrictions. blame it on the nature of news mass shootings are often followed
that there’s more goodwill on rope. It’s therefore something to But rather than these tragedies coverage, reality TV and politi- by periods of increased interest in
the other side of the table than be avoided if there’s a halfway being a cause for pause in own- cal rhetoric. Whatever the cause, the NRA, but representatives said
many Greeks suppose. decent alternative. And there is, ership of guns, gun ownership this trend is not without conse- this rate was higher than usual.”
But you can understand why or should be. has spiked in the wake of these quence. Today, those who say It was after the Newtown shoot-
Greeks see things that way. And By late 2014 Greece had man- shootings. that crime is rising are the most ing that President Barack Obama
I came away from the visit fear- aged to eke out a small “prima- A striking report released Friday opposed to gun control: Just 45 established a task force, led by
ing that Greece and Europe may ry” budget surplus, with tax re- by the Pew Research Center percent want to see gun laws Vice President Joe Biden, to de-
suffer a terrible accident, an un- ceipts exceeding spending, ex- revealed that “for the first time, made more strict, compared velop a proposal to reduce gun
necessary rupture that will cast cluding interest payments. That’s more Americans say that pro- with 53 percent of those who violence, which the president
long shadows over the future. all that creditors can reasonably tecting gun rights is more impor- see crime rates as unchanged or said he intended to “push with-
The story so far: At the end of demand, since you can’t keep tant than controlling gun owner- dropping.” out delay.”
2009 Greece faced a crisis driven squeezing blood from a stone. ship, 52 percent to 46 percent.” Another cause is most likely the Those proposals, including ex-
by two factors: High debt, and Meanwhile, all those wage cuts One of the reasons cited was intermingling of politics and panded background checks
inflated costs and prices that left have made Greece competi- Americans’ inverse understand- high-profile crimes. As The Chris- (which were characterized as
the country uncompetitive. tive on world markets - or would ing of the reality and percep- tian Science Monitor reported in “misguided” by the NRA’s Chris
Europe responded with loans make it competitive if some sta- tion of crime in this country. As 2012: “As sure as summer follows Cox) and a ban on some semiau-
that kept the cash flowing, but bility can be restored. the report spells out, in the 1990s, spring, gun sales rise after a mass tomatic weapons, were roundly
only on condition that Greece The shape of a deal is therefore people’s perception of the prev- shooting. It happened after the defeated in the Senate, although
pursues extremely painful poli- clear: basically, a standstill on alence of crime fell in concert shooting rampage at Columbine polls showed about 90 percent
cies. These included spend- further austerity, with Greece with actual instances of violent High School in Colorado in 1999. public approval for expanded
ing cuts and tax hikes that, if agreeing to make significant but crime. But since the turn of the It happened after the Tucson, background checks.
imposed on the United States, not ever-growing payments to its century, things have changed: Arizona, shootings last year that In fact, this month The Washing-
would amount to $3 trillion a creditors. Such a deal would set “A majority of Americans (63 per- killed six. Now, after the killing of ton Times reported: “The Ameri-
year. There were also wage cuts the stage for economic recov- cent) said in a Gallup survey last 12 people last week at a movie can firearms industry is as healthy
on a scale that’s hard to fathom, ery, perhaps slow at the start, but year that crime was on the rise, theater in Aurora, Colorado, gun as ever, seeing an unprecedent-
with average wages down 25 finally offering some hope. despite crime statistics holding sales are spiking again - not just in ed surge that has sent produc-
percent from their peak. But right now that deal doesn’t near 20-year lows.” Colorado but around the coun- tion of guns soaring to more than
These immense sacrifices were seem to be coming together. Furthermore, it used to be that try.” 10.8 million manufactured in 2013
supposed to produce recovery. Maybe it’s true, as the creditors the people most worried about It continued: “Self-protection is alone - double the total of just
Instead, the destruction of pur- say, that the new Greek govern- crime favored stricter gun con- part of the reason. But a bigger three years earlier.”
chasing power deepened the ment is hard to deal with. But trol, but “now, they tend to de- factor, say gun dealers, is fear of It continued: “The 2013 surge -
slump, creating Great Depres- what do you expect when par- something else: politicians, spe- the latest for which the govern-
sion-level suffering and a huge ties that have no previous experi- cifically, their ability to enact re- ment has figures - came in the
humanitarian crisis. ence in governing take over from strictions on gun ownership and first full year after the December
On Saturday I visited a shelter a discredited establishment? acquisition of ammunition. When 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook El-
for the homeless, and was told More important, the creditors a high-profile shooting takes ementary School, signaling that
heartbreaking tales of a health are demanding things - big cuts place, invariably the airwaves the push for stricter gun controls,
care system in collapse: patients in pensions and public employ- are full of talk about gun control.” strongly backed by President
turned away from hospitals be- ment - that a newly elected gov- It appears to be an extreme Obama, did little to chill the in-
cause they couldn’t pay the 5 ernment of the left simply can’t example of unintended conse- dustry despite the passage of
euro entrance fee, sent away agree to, as opposed to reforms quences, or a boomerang: The stricter laws in states such as New
without needed medicine be- like an improvement in tax en- more people talk about gun con- York, Maryland, Connecticut and
cause cash-starved clinics had forcement that it can. And the trol, the more people buy guns. California.”
run out, and more. Greeks, as I suggested, are all And not only do gun sales surge, One may begrudge and be-
It has been an endless night- too ready to see these demands but apparently so does NRA moan the fact, but it is hard to
mare, yet Greece’s political es- as part of an effort either to bring membership. As The Huffington deny it: The NRA appears to be
tablishment, determined to stay down their government or to Post reported in 2013: “The Na- winning this round. q
within Europe and fearing the make their country into an exam- tional Rifle Association’s paying
consequences of default and ple of what will happen to other
exit from the euro, stayed with debtor countries if they balk at
the program year after year. Fi- harsh austerity.
nally, the Greek public could To make things even worse, po-
take no more. As creditors de- litical uncertainty is hurting tax
manded yet more austerity - on receipts, probably causing that
a scale that might well have hard-earned primary surplus to
pushed the economy down by evaporate. The sensible thing,
another 8 percent and driven surely, is to show some patience
unemployment to 30 percent - on that front: If and when a deal
the nation voted in Syriza, a gen- is reached, uncertainty will sub-
uinely left-wing (as opposed to side and the budget should im-
prove again. But in the pervasive
atmosphere of distrust, patience
is in short supply.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
True, avoiding a full-blown cri-
sis would require that creditors
advance a significant amount
of cash, albeit cash that would
immediately be recycled into
debt payments. But consider
the alternative. The last thing
Europe needs is for fraying tem-
pers to bring on yet another ca-
tastrophe, this one completely
gratuitous.q
