Re your front-page article (Greece: can’t pay, won’t pay, 18 June), it is not so much that Greece cannot pay and will not pay, because the difference in the amount that Greece is prepared to concede and the amount that the troika are prepared to contemplate is not huge in the context of the size of even the smaller economies in Europe. The problem lies in the terms of “reform” that are being demanded by the troika. These demands are not evidence-based in economics. For example, there is an emerging divergence between the public pronouncements by economists at the IMF about the desirable policy for growth and the declared position of the negotiators acting on behalf of the board of directors of that organisation.
This suggests that the shareholders – European governments hold large blocks of shares – are less concerned about requiring evidence-based reforms than in making ideological demands designed to effect a regime change in Greece. This is a dangerous game which could derail the democratic project of the EU. Modern democracy in Europe is not deep-rooted. Inter-ethnic violence and governance through repression have been the norm for far too long until the attempted creation of a democratic Europe under the umbrella of the EU.
SP Chakravarty
Bangor, Gwynedd
• Poor people with low credit ratings sometimes turn to loan sharks for help. Because they have a low credit rating they are charged higher than normal interest on the loan, making it more difficult for them to repay. Sometimes they are forced to borrow still more to be able to repay the original loan. If they default in repayment, they may face threats from the powerful people who lend the money. It can ruin their lives.
Does this not sound suspiciously like the situation Greece finds itself in?
Jeffrey Butcher
Morecambe, Lancashire
