Apparently, many people profited... we do not know how many but reportedly many politicians and their cronies are in the know.
For those who managed to put aside their individual spoils of plunder and have moved their money out of the country (apparently still around euro ~100 billion), life can be cool; Greece is beautiful, the food is good, prices are going down slowly. It is hot this time of the year -- but, hey, it's summer after all!
For all the others who have to foot a large part of the bill of the formers' pursuit of private interest, life is less cool. Take a look at what's happening back at the ranch, Greece:
- Total workforce: 4.83 mill
- Unemployed: 1.37 mill
- Undeclared labour: 1.54 mill these are persons who do not pay tax and do not pay social security contributions either...
- ...which leaves us with 1.92 mill active persons in Greece to keep the country ticking and, hopefully, to help it grow with their value creating labour efforts.
- Out of these, any number between 900,000 - 1,170,000 are civil servants (no-one seems to know the exact number).
According to the OECD, Greece's civil servants are the Western world's least productive coming in at 70th position. Unfortunately they are also costly, comparable to Italy's -- who however are rated much higher for efficiency, and much unlike Germany's who are both cheaper and much more efficient.
So, persons of high cost & low productivity (efficiency) cannot be expected to produce much of the country's wealth.
This in turn leaves us with 1.0 mill or less legally declared persons to do the business of leading Greece out of the perennial financial tunnel!
This could mean either that Greece is a huge investment opportunity, or that it is a dangerous place to keep your money.
The Greek state is loosing around euro ~33 mill per day.
Invest or pull your money out?
You choose.
