What I've found unfathomable is that the austerity being demanded of the Greeks affects most those who really had nothing to do with the current debt crisis. And as has been pointed out by many economists, firing workers and reducing the salaries of those who still have jobs cannot possibly solve a debt problem. If people aren't working, they're not earning, and as such not spending, so the economy cannot grow. Similarly. if you're in fear of losing your job, or your salary has been cut, you're less likely to make any non-essential purchases, and again, the economy cannot grow.

The entire austerity argument does not make sense to this engineer.

What really concerns me is that some American politicians think that the best way to grow the economy here is to reduce the number of public-service workers, and to eliminate employment protections. Again -- the less you earn, the less you can spend. Inflation hasn't been a problem in a generation, so that can't be it.

Oh, wait, if you reduce worker salaries to the bone, the corporation's profits increase. Oh, yeah. Right.

-a