And we hard working taxpayers have no say in this at all. The politicians once again make our decisions for us as if we have no rights! Greece got itself into this mess by decades of corrupted officals and now we are faced with having to bail them out! We will never see that money again!

By SandraV | May 10, 2010 8:52 AM

@SandraV The whole euro-zone is currently at risk because of falling investor's confidence. It's not only the problem of Greece, unfortunately.
We can find ourselves in a much deeper crisis if EU governments don't take measures. "Guaranteeing" doesn't mean "paying". It's only to let investors know that they won't loose all their investments suddenly and thus to improve the confidence.

By kostya | May 10, 2010 2:44 PM

Welcome to the Union (European Union).

Support the faltering members or everyone in the Union suffers anyway due to global market forces.

What would the reaction of the United States of America be if say for instance Louisiana got itself into a similar financial state to Greece?

By Gerard | May 10, 2010 3:03 PM

This was inevitable and actually the security slush fund should have been created in 2001 upon introduction of the Euro -- you can't have a monetary system as big as this and not have a backup to insure it stability.
Greece, Spain, Portugal and maybe even Italy should not have been allowed to join the Euro until the problems with their economies were straightened out. They were a disaster waiting to happen. The initiating Euro governments knew well the dangers but let their enthusiasm get the best of them.
Spain and Portugal are almost guaranteed to be next. If we allow them all to default then you might as well kiss the Euro goodbye. That would be an even bigger mess.

By Buzzer | May 10, 2010 4:00 PM

Sandra, agree.This is only the beginning. Wait and see what will happen in Spain. We were too fast too expand down south, did not think about possible consequences.The same with immigration.

By Pieter van Schaaij | May 10, 2010 4:34 PM

Great: 5bn for the Greeks & 26bn for the EU fund plus what we were already short makes about 60bn. Hence, we have to vote in the party who can promise to save 60bn next year without pain.

By Vogon Poet | May 10, 2010 4:50 PM

If you have shares in the stockmarket, now is the time to sell, and to buy gold with the proceeds. Paper money and paper-money instruments like stocks and bonds are going to tank. Gold is already breaking records on a weekly basis. Imagine that it's 1929...

By Matt | May 10, 2010 5:35 PM

Guys, i totally agree with you concerning the mess of spain, greece etc..shall we forget the mess of iceland lately? ING? over there we payed and no complains...+ you borrow them money with extra interest on top of what you borrow..i.e. you make a profit out of it...u dont give money for free.For greece you get a loan with interest 3.8 and you give it to greece with 4.6%...i.e. you make a profit from this deal.However i totally agree countries like greece or spain should not have joined the euro.

By kos | May 11, 2010 1:20 AM

Stop blaming the politicians once again making our decisions for us as if we have no rights. The idea of democracy is that you vote politicians in to represent your voice. Write to them and tell them your opinion so they can represent you. If you don't think they do a good job, vote them out. If you don't excercise your vote, then don't complain. Best of all, stand for election so we know someone with a few brains is out there that we can vote for.

By jaycee | May 11, 2010 7:51 AM

What is the percentage of Dutch citizens voting in EU elections? About 20%-25% right? If the same people were allowed to vote for US President, that percentage would be 100%

By jack | May 11, 2010 10:36 PM