A few short notes. My comments on the striking customs officials were made with the internal revenue officials in mind. But, they still apply: they are birds of the same feather. Besides the latter went on strike last week protesting the possible loss of their outrageous bonuses and just at the precise moment to make a mockery of the government's protestations in Brussels that Greece can cure its fiscal problem on its own. A more egregious kind of anti-social egotism cannot be conceived. These people, together with the wild-eyed trade unionists currently occupying the finance ministry, are dancing on the carcass of their country. They seem moronically to think that they can secure through violence something for themselves even though the entire ship is sinking. They can surely cause us all to drown, but they themselves will also suffer the same fate. Rats are not known as keen swimmers. With respect to the customs people it suffices to mention that they have left our houses without heating in the middle of winter.

A tale of two editorials: the Economist's comments on Feb. 18 are suffused with smart ass contempt bordering on cultural racism. That Greeks went out on Clean Monday (the beginning of Lent) to fly kites and eat sea food is neither here nor there. You cannot expect a whole society to turn itself off culturally simply because of the (admittedly extreme) financial predicament. Movie theaters and bars are also still open: what is exactly the Economist's suggestion? That we shut ourselves up in our rooms trembling and praying? The British high class has stubbornly refused to give up fox hunting even though public opinion is overwhelmingly against it and parliament legislated to ban it. I do not recall the Economist being terribly exercised about that. That said, the substance of the argument developed in the editorial needs to be taken seriously. But it is not self-evidently true. The founding of a European monetary fund can be an effective response to situations similar to the Greek one in the future, and this is the option envisaged in the rescue plan for Greece being worked out by the German finance ministry as reported on Saturday by Der Spiegel. The danger of undue political influence can be obviated through the strict rules of operation proposed.

Compare the thoughtful and constructive editorial of the New York Times on the same day, which is a continuation of the enlightened attitude first expressed in their editorial of Feb. 1 pleading for Europe not to let Greece go under. If Europe is interested in putting Greece on the road to a more sane handling of its economy they should not barge in to effect its "fiscal strangulation", the paper says. This kind of shock therapy will simply kill off economic activity thus crippling the ability of the state to collect tax revenue and hence balance its books. This is sensible counsel. It comes from afar, but perhaps because of that it takes a more rounded and long term view, which eschews ideological rigidity. In the Economist approach on the contrary one senses an overriding motive to uphold liberal economic orthodoxy first and foremost. This is of course the reason for the very existence of the Economist in the first place. But as Bush found out in September 2008 when the world collapses around you ideological virginity is a luxury that can barely be afforded. Fortunately, Merkel has also come around to the opinion that the prime consideration at this moment is a pragmatic solution to an impossible situation, rather than lily-white theoretic posturing. Her distancing from her liberal partners in the ruling coalition goes hand in hand with her wise decisions in the Greek case.

One last thought: I wish the bulk of Greek "journalists" and ignorant politicos barking and baying on the air waves each night would just take five minutes reading the consistently pro-Greek pronouncements of the great American newspaper -in case, that is, they can read at all. They should also consider, if again they are capable of any sane consideration, that it was the New York Times that exposed the machinations and hence the responsibility of Wall Street in connection with the Greek debt crisis. But I have a feeling that this is too much to ask.....