The 10 Worst Predictions for 2010

Η μετάφραση και τα σχόλια στο τέλος του άρθρου του περιοδικού Foreign Policy  

Ten pundits and politicians whose prognostications for this year completely missed the mark.

BY JOSHUA E. KEATING | DECEMBER 17, 2010

"Well it won't be a bailout. We don't have the specifics, because this is very new, as to what the financial tool will be, but it could be anything from a guarantee to finding other ways of borrowing money. But again it's not going to be handouts."
-Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, BBC interview, Feb. 21, 2010...

"Ireland is making no application for the funding... because clearly we are pre-funded right up to the middle of next year."
-Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen, BBC interview, Nov. 15, 2010

When European prime ministers start repeatedly denying that they will need an EU bailout, it's never a good sign. Just two months after Papandreou clearly stated that he wouldn't go asking for a bailout for his nation's embattled economy, he formally requested exactly that from the EU and IMF, calling it a "a national and pressing necessity." The request was approved in May to the tune of $146.2 billion, and not a moment too soon. Analysts feared that Greece's economic woes could imperil other Eurozone economies, leading to contagion. Ireland was next to fall. After months of resisting, Ireland applied for a $100 billion bailout just a week after Cowen declared the country "pre-funded" until next year.

So when Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero confidently declared in November that there is "absolutely" no chance of Spain needing a bailout, there's good reason to be skeptical. 

Το  Foreign Policy, κάνει αναφορά στις Δέκα πιο άστοχες προβλέψεις που έγιναν από τους πολιτικούς του κόσμου για το 2010.

Στην Πρώτη θέση στη λίστα βρίσκεται   ο  Πρωθυπουργός μας.

Συγκεκριμένα το περιοδικό αναφέρει στο αφιέρωμα το εξής απόσπασμα απο συνέντευξή του κ.  Παπανδρέου στο BBC την 21/2/10:

“Well it won’t be a bailout. We don’t have the specifics, because this is very new, as to what the financial tool will be, but it could be anything from a guarantee to finding other ways of borrowing money. But again it’s not going to be handouts.”
-Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, BBC interview, Feb. 21, 2010

Μτφ: «Μα δεν πρόκειται να είναι διάσωση. Δεν γνωρίζουμε τις λεπτομέρειες, αφού πρόκειται για κάτι το καινούργιο, όσον αφορά στο ποιο θα είναι το οικονομικό εργαλείο, όμως θα μπορούσε να είναι οτιδήποτε από μια εγγύηση έως στο πώς να βρούμε άλλους τρόπους για να δανειστούμε. Επαναλαμβάνω όμως πως δεν πρόκειται για ελεημοσύνη».