A Greek Taverna Restaurant in Greece.

June 7, 2010

Greece moves toward major changes

"The great loneliness" of the predicament in Greece

Commentary by Nikos Konstandaras at Kathimerini gives a shopping list of the ailments attacking the Greek psyche as the economic crisis continues:

"The sudden, mass reduction in incomes has created an unprecedented challenge for every Greek and for society as a whole. We all expect tomorrow to be worse than yesterday, whether we be businessmen or employees, students or pensioners. Because the pressure does not come from some foreign cause but from the bankruptcy of our economic and political model itself, we can look only to our own resources for a way out of the crisis.

...The state owes private companies more than 10 billion euros, is withholding value-added tax returns and demanding extra taxes, strangling the market further as banks have slashed their loans. The only government proposal aimed at helping companies is to make dismissals easier.

...Fear of the future, fear of our fellow citizens, is everywhere. Beyond our borders, we see that we are more isolated than ever, having no competitive advantage over other countries in the region (as when Greece was the richest country in the neighborhood and the only member of both NATO and the EU). Furthermore, our economic disaster has made Greeks the laughing stock and whipping boy of the international community.

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