Pessimism on Greek Bailout Deal (If You Need Some)

To provide a little more perspective on the news of the just-announced Greek bailout agreement, I point you to this CNN Money piece from yesterday in which Dimitri Papadimitriou notes how abysmal the underlying economic growth trends remain (Greek employment depends a lot on shipping, which is faring poorly) and reminds us that the package, containing some brutal measures like a 25 percent cut in the minimum wage, would still need to be approved by the Greek parliament:

“It’s a cautious euphoria because investors are only looking at the short-term. Of course, there should be an agreement between the troika and the Greek government,” Papadimitriou said. “But you can’t assume that a Parliament that is in disarray will approve more austerity measures.”

Voting on the package in the Greek parliament is scheduled for Sunday.  Stay tuned.