Economic Consequences from the Enforcement of Deflationary Policies in Greece and the Case of Greek Shipping

"La democracie c' est s’addresser a l’intelligence des citoyens plutot que d’exciter leur peurs."

Francois Hollande, October 2015

The underlying intention of this presentation has been to provide an answer to the apparent inconsistency between the declared objective of assisting the Greek economy go back to economic development and the means presently employed to achieve this. The ailing Greek economy has been obliged to undergo a severe austerity programme over a lengthy period at a time of world recession as a precondition for receiving economic facilitation to stay in the Eurozone and return to economic development.

Who is to Blame for Austerity and its Consequences in Greece?

By the end of the crisis, Greece will have lost about 27-30% of its economic output. This sort of disaster is usually seen only after wars and biblical events –but who is to blame in this case since God and the generals had presumably nothing to do with it? A popular cause is “austerity forced upon Greece by international institutions”. This is doubly flawed.

New Governance in Europe and Greece

In the event of the forthcoming European elections, the always-existing scenario of an early Greek general election, the entry of new leaders in the EU institutions in 2014, a possible new Constitutional Convention, I would like to briefly put on the table a series of thoughts that may provoke further discussion.

Stop the Cuts and Fund the Reforms

Greece’s economy and society are imploding. GDP has declined by almost 25% since the start of the crisis. Unemployment has tripled and stands at 25%, with youth unemployment twice that. Crime is on the rise and so are racist incidents. Ideologies of the extreme right and left are gaining significant support.

1st Annual GPPF Forum 2012: Executive Summary

“Unfolding the Layers of the Crisis: the Nation-State, Europe, and the World”

1st Annual GPPF Chania Forum, 21-22 September 2012

Executive Summary

The third event organized by the Greek Public Policy Forum took place on September 21 and 22 at the Kiani Beach Resort in Chania, Greece. It was kindly sponsored by Decidendi Consultants, the Economic Chamber of Western Crete, and the Regional Development Fund of Crete. The Chania Forum tried to build upon the foundations laid by the two previous Fora at Oxford (June 2011) and Nottingham (March 2012). The Oxford Forum focused on Greece’s multifaceted crisis (economic, political, and social). The Nottingham Forum tried to examine the Greek crisis in its European context.

Redesigning the Architecture of Greek Local Government

The ongoing European debt crisis has singled out the peripheral economies of the European South by shedding light on their latent pathologies and malfunctions. Often viewed as an epitome of a ‘Mediterranean’ model of political and economic organization, Greece gave utmost expression to those ills pertaining to a weak and inefficient social contract. The Greek post-dictatorial political economic system has been marked by an explosive mix of statism, welfarism, and popular distrust of public institutions that eventually gave way to a downward spiral of state degradation and social degeneration. The country has thus been trapped in a self-enforcing vicious cycle of low state (fiscal and legal) capacity, high policy implementation costs, and depreciating social capital.