Did Greece's government make the right decision?

The Greek prime minister's decision to hold a referendum on the EU bailout has been called everything from reckless and a failure of leadership to a desperate attempt to cling to power.

Prime Minister George Papandreou's stunning call for a referendum wholesale jerseys jolted the world's markets. Reports say 60 per cent of Greeks oppose the bailout. All the stability the week-old deal had created was completely undone.

So should a leader make a tough choice, even if his own people are cheap mlb jerseys against it, and it means his own political defeat? That's a good question for the former leader of Ireland, Brian Cowen, who saw his government fall apart after accepting financial support from the EU and International Monetary Fund.

Or should a leader take such a choice to his people, like Papandreou did?

Today Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of Canada commentednfl jerseys cheap on it at the House of Commons Finance Committee, and you can read his opening remarks here. He also talked about Papandreou's startling move on Power Play.

Ireland, which took the other path, slammed Greece's government.

"The summit last week was to deal with the uncertainty in the euro zone...and this grenade is thrown in just a few short days later," European affairs minister Lucinda Creighton told Reuters.

If the cynics are right, and Papandreou made his choice just to stay in jerseys wholesale power, it isn't working. Defections have left him with a two-vote majority. If his government falls, not only the referendum will be killed, but the bailout as well -- regardless of how many would have voted for it.

Conservative opposition leader Antonis Samaras said "elections are a national necessity" for Greece. But do voters agree? Or is fixing the economy a national necessity?

The ongoing mess has been a source of grim fascination onyotoforum Twitter. In the past two days, this column has been retweeted and mentioned dozens of times, but it portrays Greece as the Bad Guy:

@iancowie Fast cars and loose fiscal morals: Greece has more Porsche Cayennes than taxpayers declaring 50,000 euro incomes

For others, some humour in the state of the EU:

@reutersJeremyG Fabulous typo from RBS note on Greek referendum - "We thus view this as a major negative for Greece and the rest of the momentary union".

Christopher Pissarides, a winner of the Nobel Prize for economics, cheap nfl jerseystold Sky News that a rejection of the bailout would be "disastrous" for Greece.

"Greece will default immediately, and I can't see them staying in the euro having rejected such a vital EU plan," he said.
http://hotk.bestforum.us/t81-did-greece-s-government-make-the-right-decision
It looks like Tom Kennedy [link to his Twitter handle] will be pulling an all-nighter for us, as he keeps his pulse on the late emergency cabinet meeting between Papandreou and his ministers. Tom in the lead spot tonight… followed by the ripple effects the referendum had on North American markets.

See you tonight,