Greece: Still in the Woods

Abstract

Greece went bankrupt in 2009 presumably because it run an exorbitant public deficit and had accumulated a huge public debt. However, in reality Greece went bankrupt because its model of social and economic organization has been surpassed by European and international developments. To avoid this tragedy, Greece had been given by EEC initially and EU later on enough time to prepare before integrating into the Eurozone. From the treaties it signed Greece ought to have introduced structural transformations to render its economy consistent with the four European freedoms. Instead, time and again successive governments procrastinated and employed all sorts of gimmicks to protect the model of state socialism they had erected on the pillars of the 1975 Constitution. But time and circumstances caught up with their policies and now the cost for confronting the challenges that lie ahead has become enormous. Hopefully, sooner than later, those responsible for the bankruptcy of Greece and the hardships that have befell on the Greek people will discover that their self-interest coincides with that of the country and they will take the lead in the replacement of the present hard core statist model with one based on free and open markets and outward looking entrepreneurship.