Δημοσιευμένο άρθρο του Κώστα Χρυσόγονου στους New York Times
Re “A sea change in Greece?” (Opinion, Nov. 28)
by Nicholas Gage: There is no doubt that successive Greek governments overspent
in order to fuel their clientelistic networks and turned a blind eye to tax
evasion. But European governments and European Union institutions should bear
part of the blame; it suited them nicely to tolerate Greek governments’
questionable economic data: partly because data from other Union members were
by no means impeccable either; and partly because European companies were doing
lucrative business in Greece, bribing corrupt politicians.
When Greece lost its
creditworthiness in 2010, the “medicine” prescribed to it was a program
controlled by its official international lenders. Its implementation has proven
to be worse than the disease itself: National debt has skyrocketed to 175
percent; G.D.P. has collapsed by almost 25 percent since 2008; and unemployment
is running at 26 percent. This “medicine” was delivered to the Greek people by
exactly the same kleptocratic political parties that ruled the country in
previous decades.
The program has created a primary
budget surplus. This means that Greece is no longer a net burden for its
lenders. But further implementation of the program means much more austerity.
Only a dictator could impose the further austerity required by the lenders. So
they have two options: Either they agree to an end to more austerity and to a
generous “haircut” of their loans, so that Greek national debt becomes sustainable,
or they push Greece into a period of uncertainty, at the end of which stands
some kind of divorce between them, meaning that they end up without even
partial repayment of their loans. It is in the interests of both sides to avoid
the latter option.
Kostas Chrysogonos, Brussels
The writer is a Syriza member of the European Parliament and a law
professor at the University of Thessaloniki.
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