Should anyone in America be surprised at the events unfolding in Greece ?   This is a serial defaulting nation and culture, with sovereign debt defaults occurring five times in the modern era (1826,1843,1860,1894,1932).   History certainly repeats itself in this historically rich small nation, with an economy the size of the state of Alabama.  Strong-armed or charismatic leaders buy power in the voting booth with promises of ever-expanding entitlement goodies.  It always ends the same, with people rioting in the streets against some perceived external enemy (today that would be Germany and the EU) that wants them to relinquish their goodies. Expanding entitlements from cradle to grave, bloated federal payrolls, crippling government worker (oxymoron) pensions, crushing regulatory impediments to starting businesses, and an expansive and uncollectible tax system, all funded with other people’s money, results in an unsustainable sovereign debt load.

Tomorrow, the piper gets paid.  Welcome to the first 21st century Depression, Greeks.    Dig up your old drachmas buried in the backyard.  Margaret Thatcher once said that, “the problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples’ money “.

Do any of those ill-conceived government behaviors noted in the last paragraph ring a bell ?                               WHAT THE HECK !