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A famine in Greece?
That's going to take some doing. It is a strongly agricultural country. And any attempt at that would probably mean total depletion of the Mediterranean sea (Greece already takes 19% of the EU fish catch there, and would probably not worry with quotas too much in case of a famine).
No doubt that much will be done to prevent a Syriza government, even though they are the only moderate party left in Greece (its tag as "radical left" notwhithstanding). But famine seems a somewhat distant prospect. Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed. Gandhi
the biggest negative articles are *oil & gas -8.4bn USD *capital goods (machinery, eletrical, electronic, ships, vehicles) -6.6bn USD *pharmaceuticals -2.4bn USD
Foodstuffs figure on the negative side thus:
*meat -1.3bn USD *dairy -0.5bn USD *cereals -0.3bn USD *miscellaneous (my rough calculation) -1.6bn USD Total -3.7bn USD
but bolster the positive side:
*vegetable/fruit preparations 0.9bn USD *fruit, nuts etc 0.75bn USD *animal/vegetable fats/oils 0.4bn USD *fish 0.35bn USD Total 2.4bn USD
The foodstuffs balance is negative but not enormously (-1.3bn USD). Eat less meat and dairy, and more vegetables, fruit, fish, olive oil (the Mediterranean diet!) and it could be fixed.
The worrisome items, in terms of immediate living conditions, are oil & gas, and pharmaceuticals.
It does not matter if they have a current account surplus if the global political environment makes it impossible for Greece to sell.
"Sell to Greece, make Germany an enemy". Who would sell to Greece?
- Jake Friends come and go. Enemies accumulate.
What people are here suggesting is akin to saying that the American embargo to Cuba is of no consequence to Cuba's relationship with the rest of the world.
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