Unresolved problems
January 30, 2012
In Athens, few are surprised that negotiations on a Greek debt writedown have been dragging on. Observers say bluffing is part of the game, and predict a deal will be reached by mid-February.
More than by drawn-out debt talks, Greeks are worried by indications that Greece may leave the eurozone.
Not everyone shares that view, however. Thanassis Mavridis, a leading Greek economic publicist, said exiting the common currency cannot be in the interest of Greece's international investors - otherwise, Europe's major powers would have enforced that move long ago.
"International investors who seriously pay close attention to Greece can weigh the pros and cons. They should inevitably reach the conclusion that leaving the eurozone isn't an option for anyone," Mavridis told Deutsche Welle.
Greece can overcome the current crisis despite a mountain of pending reforms, he said - with the help of its European partners.
"But Greece needs partners, not judges. It is wrong that so many are trying to make an example of Greece," the Athens-based economist said.
Home-made problems
Most Greeks, in particular small wage earners who have suffered shrinking pay packets since the crisis broke out, agree with that assessment. The Greek media have speculated whether the international troika of the European Commission, ECB and IMF have made all the right moves - in view of the fact that all decisions taken in Greece these past two years were subject to approval by international economic experts.
If the international community wants to help Greece, Mavridis said, punishing all Greek citizens across-the-board by slapping them with ever-new taxes is not the way to go.
It is the country's political elite that must be forced to implement structural reforms, he said, adding that, in principle, there is no getting around the fact that Greece's problems are partly home-made.
Recently, police in Thessaloniki busted a gang engaged in racketeering, which included a senior anti-fraud official and several other individuals with ties to Greek politicians.
"If you don't eradicate such far-reaching corruption, other measures don't make sense, either," Mavridis said. For instance, Europe should put pressure on Athens to fire hundreds of thousands of employees granted civil servant status in 2006 solely based on their political affiliations, he said.
Growing discontent
Opinion polls mirror the Greek people's discontent with their political elite: the major parties have dropped below 30 percent while leftist opposition parties have reportedly doubled their percentage of the vote.
Unperturbed, politicians in Athens continue to play their power games, which even appear to have influenced Prime Minister Loukas Papademos' interim government as it grapples with political disagreement over austerity measures.
Even though the new government holds an overwhelming majority in parliament, lawmakers last week voted against extending pharmacy opening hours in a rare case of rebellion against reforms demanded by the country's international lenders.
But Greece urgently needs to introduce such competitive measures, said Giorgos Doukidis, a business informatics professor at Athens University.
"The Greek economy should not just rely on cheap labor - what is more important is boosting productivity and competition by opening markets," he said.
Carrots, not sticks
The legal framework for private investment is not very reliable at the moment, Doukidis conceded. "Unfortunately, that tends to favor bureaucracy and inflate business costs. That has to change quickly," he told Deutsche Welle.
Greek people are neither lazy nor ill-qualified, Giorgos Doukidis said, but due to a complex beaurocracy, Greek companies are not up-to-date although many managers have very good qualifications. He urged Greek businesses to be proactive and work out ideas to generate growth and enter a competitive, international market.
It is high time for the political focus to shift from wage cuts and tax hikes to the long overdue modernization of the Greek economy - and for the parties in the Greek coalition government to vote for reforms they already pretend to support.
Author: Jannis Papadimitriou / db
Editor: Gabriel Borrud