ELI5: Why doesn't Greece lease some of its islands to pay off its debt?

kukkuzejt · 5 days

I did a little bit more research for the sake of interest, and to be fair to you - there are some islands which are much more expensive than the 7m average I picked.

Patroklos for example, up for sale at a cool 150m euros. Or perhaps Atokos at only 45m euros... but, those seem to be exceptional, and at that price you could just as easily get yourself a few islands in the Bahamas instead.

kukkuzejt · 5 days

Your question interested me, so I did some research. I'm not qualified though so there's bound to be mistakes, and I'd be interested to hear how other people feel about this situation anyway so feel free.

Greece appears to be in a serious debt snowball at the moment.

Over the last couple of years, the EU and IMF have provided Greece with about 240bn euros worth of bailout loans. There also appear to be over 100bn euros worth of loans owed to other creditors as of 2011Q3, resulting in a conservative total debt of 340bn euros.

(As a percentage of GDP Greece is currently running the EU gauntlet at 160%)

As to the islands - Greece has around 6000, of varying size and worth. (but please note, the government doesn't own all of them)

A particularly nice island seems to be in the region of 15m euros, although there are many others available between 1 and 2m euros.

Even if we were to take an optimistic average of 7m euro per island, we would get total sales at 40bn euros.

So, as far as I can tell - with that kind of debt/gdp ratio, it would swallow up the cash while barely changing Greece's position.

(source: Guardian articles, EU debt (Feb '11), Island sales (Jun '10))

sykton · 6 days

First one that comes to mind... will add more later:

M83 - Be wild

nomdeweb · 7 days

I think this technology is really only intended for short-range data transfers, as the article states it is effective over ranges up to 10m.

Transfers between a smartphone and a computer (music/video data), for example.

duded1000 · 7 days

I think you mean radio synchronized clocks; I don't think jamming the signal is going to have the effect you're after.

forb3s · 9 days

It's funny you should mention Fukuoka; if you go to Canal city (the big shopping mall), you'll find a larger version of the the same fountain:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SG2EgvdK-RA

bleahbloh · 11 days

If I were you, I would strongly promote (with detail) the security features that are in place for Kronos, that were not present in Bitcoinica before their recent loss.

Bucky_Ohare · 1 month

One of my Japanese students (7 years old):

"Since your eyes are blue, does that mean you see everything in blue?"

citysounds · 8 months

Things not to do with a drum presentation video:

1) unsync the video and audio

2) use the shittest microphone you can find

married_to_a_reddito · 8 months

You need to start taking pictures of yourself to understand.

It'll be near impossible to discern gradual change just from using memory - particularly so with something that seems to be closely linked to your self esteem.

Never too late to take a picture. You'll be surprised over time.

turner13 · 8 months

This article was either written by a complete amateur or it's a search engine optimization piece. (maybe both)

Either that or 'fission power system' has been copyrighted lately...

cookupastorm · 9 months

I like how you spelt 'degraded' incorrectly on purpose.

It highlights your point very well.

cookupastorm · 9 months

Here's their website.

Looks like they've got rather a long way to go in 4 and a half years dontchathinkso?

envysiblegirl · 9 months

Hey. A lot of recipes forget to mention that after adding your wet ingredients to the well, you should begin mixing from the center. This will incorporate the dry ingredients more gradually than just adding everything together at once, creating a smoother consistency and reducing the chance of overmixing (which has a negative impact on certain cake/biscuit products).

GoAway · 9 months

Just be careful

allahuakbar79 · 10 months

Following Oracle Corporation's acquisition of Sun Microsystems in 2009–2010, Oracle has described itself as the "steward of Java technology with a relentless commitment to fostering a community of participation and transparency".

...what participation?

denloh · 10 months

"He that can have Patience, can have what he will.”

Benjamin Franklin

...not the most ripped guy in the world, but he was pretty successful

yourenotmydad · 10 months

Nice trolling.

percymate · 10 months

I think that list is going to be floating around for years.

ProZachJ · 10 months

Why would moving it under a weaker light source produce a hotter pepper?

pineapplepaul · 10 months

The writer of this article seems to be under a kind of false impression.

Google is involved in these 'wars' as a matter of choice, not necessity.

Aethelstan · 11 months

So in fact, we could amend your original comment:

That being said, I hope Greece, Portugal, and Ireland can pull through this thing. Well, maybe not Greece because from what I've heard on the news that I don't pay much attention to because it's typically bad things that I don't feel are worth listening to, they're all douchbags, but definitely Portugal and Ireland.

praptor · 11 months

Heya praptor,

I'm worried my comment is being taken too seriously - it was just intended as a bit of light fun!

In truth, I'm far more impressed that you made something you normally wouldn't. I've got genuine respect for people who try to make things for themselves, and please rest assured that your effort here is no exception.

Keep it up, and best of luck with your future endeavours!

praptor · 11 months

Pizza spheres! Great! While we're on the subject of original naming,

Deformed potato and tubed meat

Long stringies with red sauce

Square springy white with filling

Perpendicular potato slices

egashira · 11 months

Do you know of any shows in particular or specific episodes of shows that you'd particularly recommend? I'd rather not buffer for an hour and find out it was another celebrity-circle-jerk! (I'm sure you appreciate what I'm getting at).

GoAway

TROPHY CASE

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