Barack Obama expressed sympathy for the new radical left Greek government elected to office last week.
Obama added, “You cannot keep on squeezing countries that are in the midst of depression.”
Of course, the Greeks are in trouble because they spent more money than they brought in, something Barack Obama has a hard time understanding.
The new leftist government demanded the European Union cancel half of their debt.
Obama says they’re squeezed.
The Wall Street Journal reported:
President Barack Obama expressed sympathy for the new Greek government as it seeks to rollback its strict bailout regime, saying there are limits to how far its European creditors can press Athens to repay its debts while restructuring the economy.
“You cannot keep on squeezing countries that are in the midst of depression. At some point there has to be a growth strategy in order for them to pay off their debts to eliminate some of their deficits,” Mr. Obama said in an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria aired Sunday.
He said Athens needs to restructure its economy to boost its competitiveness, “but it’s very hard to initiate those changes if people’s standards of livings are dropping by 25% . Over time, eventually the political system, the society can’t sustain it.”
