Eurozone Greece: It Made Sense Back Then, No Mistake

Much is being written lately about Greece's joining the eurozone (see image left) being a romantic mistake. Romantic because Greece is, after all, the cradle of democracy and how could we do without the cradle; mistake because Greece could not keep up with the requirements and disciplines of a common "hard" currency.

Ex President G d Estaing of France practically admitted it was a mistake.
I cannot comment on the sentimental bit: it either is or isn't and if the "is" affects decision makers -- so be it!

I can however comment on the latter. I propose that there was no mistake:
Not only was Greece more or less within specs, it was a promising small country with a big history, a democratic regime (they invented after all), a land of some opportunity, a growing economy -- as far as one could tell -- and excellent prospects. At the time.

Add to that, Greece Inc is, on the whole, a small operation by most European standards and, thereby, manageable even if something went wrong.

But no-one could have predicted just HOW wrong!

No-one could have predicted the utter indifference Greece's politicians and their cronies would show to the country's fate. For the past thirty years, Greek political history is one of scandal, misappropriation, mismanagement, and impunity for the few.

Even today, two years after Greece unofficially went under and is being kept alive by those same "romantics", nothing has been done to assuage public sector deficit. Not even by reducing the payroll.

"Nothing" is not an exaggeration: nothing is the fact. Zilch.

Zilch: the public sector has actually increased in size -- albeit only by 7000 new recruits (soon to become 10000 new recruits).
The state income had decreased by 33% in 24 months.
Greece's present government, ruling a country of 10mill comprises 51 persons. Italy's only 15.

Greece's ruling socialist party politicians publicly assert they have avoided the worst and succeeded in the saving the country.

One hesitates to use the ill-used word "Mafia" -- even though the same families seem to be key players in the Greek politics for the past 30 years just as we see in Hollywood (and probably real) Mafia.

It is probably a first in the political history of the contemporary world. Even Attila settled down to peaceful growth after the first pillaging; not so Greece's ruling families and their followers!

No where else has such bewildering indifference to the fate of the common good been reported!

And no-one could have predicted the Greek voters' deep rooted naivete to vote for the same people who have resulted in the virtual death of their country. Even when everything around them was already crumbling down! They accepted to be hoodwinked, time after time, again!


So, I repeat my vehement conviction: no mistake when Greece was invited to join the Eurozone.
It all made perfect sense -- and where the numbers were close, a little bit of romantic will made the way.

There could be no predictability because there was no historical precedent!


Now we have historical precedent.

Too bad it comes from that beautiful small country with the big, glorious, history!

Political Tolerance Back-fired. Democracy: over.

The image on the left portrays the Ancient Greece -- more to the point, many Greeks' dream Greece.

Greece today, falls short of anyone's dreams.

On Nov 3rd 2011 in a speech of, as yet unprecedented, political trickery, lies, hypocrisy, and shameless propagandist mantra, Greece's Prime Minister informed the assembly that he (and his party) have succeeded in gaining Europartners' trust, in saving the country from defaulting, in reversing the dire situation the country used to be in -- which situation was not his/ their fault.

When asked to step down, his unequivocal answer was, "Nah-nah-nah nah-nah, I ain't goin' nowhere".

Greeks are in a difficult situation: they have elected to power a person & a party who campaigned upon false pretences. But that's not the big problem.
The real problem is, the Greek government came to power normally -- through elections. So, Greeks can not claim that they are suffering under the yolk of a junta -- and expect immediate support.
Yet, a junta is exactly what the present (3rd quarter 2011) Greek Socialist government is.

The Greek government has gradually centralised power to a degree that in 3rd world countries would be termed at least authoritarian (legislated impunity for politicians; rampant nepotism, total disregard for popular dissent, blatant disregard for institutions - legal requirements - fiscal requirements - even paying their to enter a museum, soviet-type propaganda...).
Greeks have seen themselves made a fool of, ridiculed globally, and ostracised by the global community.

In the G20 meeting, the Euro leaders called the Greek PM's bluffs and cornered the situation. A further crisis ensued back as Greeks realised that their Prime Minister had lied outright -- to both the Europartners and the voters...

And yet, the good fellas in government are not ready to let go. For that matter, nor did the mob let go until forced to do so.


BUT, a few big buts,
* The mob was the mob and everyone knew they were the bad guys. Even they knew it. Anyone will run to help you if you are a victim here.
* The junta -- any junta -- is a junta and everyone accepts they are bad guys by Western democracy standards. You don't have to explain it. Countries have repeatedly shown their solidarity to the victims of oppressive regimes.
* Soviet type or Stalinist regimes were totalitarian, and everyone recognised the plight of the people living under such regimes. That's where the word "dissident" got star-billing for while.

But in Greece, the present junta is NOT self-evident. No one can recognise the present Greek political regime for what it is outside the country itself -- indeed, many cannot do so within the country itself if they live far from information providing centres. So the people are accountable for what their (legally recognised) government has done & is doing.

Greeks pushed their tolerance for their incompetent & immoral politicians too far.

The Greeks' political tolerance backfired.
They can't even expect sympathy from their allies.

HELP!

Is there anybody out there?

Please help rid Greece of the man in the middle image, and his pack of cronies.

Help!

Before this man in the middle switches the country's flag from the top image to the bottom image.

Officially!

It is good to be a civil servant in Greece

EU officials apply pressure, the "Troika" "strongly urge", the IMF throws a supporting comment here and there-- but no cigar:

Greece's socialist government doggedly refuses to reduce the Public Sector. It does of course make all sorts of noises and calculated leaks that sparks TV chatting and general speculation -- to appease EU officials and support local speculation.
It is also an indication that some structural change is being implemented -- even none is.

Despite media indications to the contrary and Greek politicians' supporting noises, Greece's Public Sector including nationalised companies is still running at just under 1mill. strong, up 11.000 from last year. These people do not fear redundancy: the only action Greece's merry socialists will take is early retirement for c. 30.000 civil servants who are in pre-retirement age at this moment.

So, Greek civil servants -- many of whom are uncivil and most of whom do not serve -- are keeping their jobs. Whatever the stakes and against all odds.
A rare display of loyalty from the country's ruling socialist party, Pasok, to its equally loyal fans: the Greek public sector votes in favour of Pasok at an overwhelming rate of 60-70%


Meanwhile, private sector unemployment continues in growth mode.


In paper, this trend (public sector job conservation vs. private sector job losses) can lead to nicely centralised country, with a unique, large national, employer -- the State.
A state controlled, centralised economy boasting full employment.
Foreign employers will be tolerated as will be the odd craftsman as well as small private shop owners.
This is reminiscent of the Soviet Union in the late '70s & '80s; especially in the auxiliary countries such as Hungary, this model dominated.

But this model was abandoned along with the (soviet) Union.


Perhaps however not totally abandoned.
Could it be that Greece in the running to become the Neo-Soviet state?

Greece's tolerant population

In a country where every new day brings a new tax (or tariff, or whatever instrument payable by the population at large), a relatively small political elite still drives around in high-end state funded Lexus & Mercedes Benz Hybrids, keeps its reasonably good and usefully tax free salaries, and lives in & owns impressive real estate.

The fact that such politicians exist in what is termed a first-world country is worthy of repeated head-scratching.

The fact that many are ostentatious about it would be amazingly sci-fi if it weren't for the apathy of the Greek population around them.

Arguably, in any country of the first world, these people would have been the subject of various ignominies -- simplest of which is, they simply wouldn't be there!

Not in Greece.

In the 18 months since Greece signed the EU-IMF bail-out plan, the ruling Socialist government has succeeded two things:
1) To increase sovereign debt by 33%
2) To save ALL government employees jobs.


Incredible!

Which begs the politically sociological question:
What is better?
a) "Eliminate" such politicians -- as in Romania's final dealings with ex president Ceausescu;
b) Be tolerant and await for the emigration permit from Australian authorities'.

Greece in 2011 in the fall...

Greece in "free fall" would be a more apt title.

I just returned from a business trip in Germany and, while most all of my colleagues were sincerely sympathetic of Greece's plight, they asked the obvious question:
"what the *$* wrong with your government -- why don't they do something?"

The answer to this question probably lies in a number of reasons.
One of these reasons is the cretins that compose Greece's present Socialist government: these are people trained to be PR con-men. Not administrators, planners, decision-makers... let alone being adept at crisis management.

Another is the sedentary civil servants & unions mafia that resists any change as far as possible; for them, the Euro & the EU membership are no longer important issues as they have already capitalised upon them through the Development and solidarity programmes of the past. No surprise, Greece's infrastructure is not far from what it was 30 years ago; likened to Africa relief funds -- had these funds been invested in the country, Greece would boast highways, rail, airports, administrative efficiency, & operational renewable energy sources.

The most important of all these reasons, I think, is Greece's Feudal type of government: over centralisation and an overpopulated Public Sector are, both, the hallmarks of a the typical feudal state where the leader held all the privileges, and bestowed them sparingly according to his most devoted subjects.
Accordingly, in Greece, closed professional, exclusive importers, exclusive suppliers... all are still carefully guarded.
The voting troops get positions for life within the civil service in exchange for unfailing devotion during elections.

In Greece every four years, the people vote the Lord into Parliament. The question is still out which form of government is better for the country: traditional hereditary or global suffrage?

Greece's debt crisis, Greece's sovereignty , and the demonstrations

While many people are worried about many matters arising from or surrounding Greece's sovereign debt problem (which is indeed a handful), and the effectiveness or otherwise of the country's Socialist government's austerity measures, Greeks continue to gather and peacefully demonstrate.

Despite the media propagated and supported viewpoint whereby Greeks in Greece rise against the "bad IMF", the "Eurogroup rodents", since "Greece belongs to Greeks" and similar sentimental slogans, most Greeks loyal to their afternoon meetings at Syntagma, a large central square in Athens, flanked on one side by the Boule (house of parliament) have been consistently voicing one, at least, matter: their parliamentarians' -- "corrupt", "arrogant", "unethical", "insensitive", "ruffians", "thieves", "curs", "bastards"...

There is more, but this is indicative.

There are 300 members of parliament in Greece, quite a few it must be said for such a small country. Most of them, unfortunately, do not shine in their public life (or personal life for that matter) giving credence to the descriptive chaff hurled at them.

Not unlike their kith & kin in other countries, Greek politicians have not put in a day's work in their lives. While this is neither here not there, here, in Greece, given the untenable situation, some work experience in the real work would have come in handy...


Unfortunately for Greece, the people customarily bestowed with power have definitively shown they are impotent & incapable of dealing with the situation -- or any situation for that matter.

More unfortunately, the Eurogroup & IMF seem incapable of getting their act together in the case of Greece. Both organisations have sent a small rep team who have not yet, in more than one year, been received by the Prime minister of the country -- or any minister for that matter!

Even more unfortunately, the austerity measures implemented are designed to put a definitive lid on value-adding activity and initiative in the country.

The rantings and ravings of S&P (a company belonging to pulp & educational publisher mcgraw hill), are unlikely to help: neither S&P nor probably McGraw Hill knows the whereabouts of Greece in the first place.


Ultimately Greeks can only hope for God-sent salvation.

Greek Socialist Politicians are Above Investors & the Law

One of our Clients has been considering an expansion of the company's operation in Greece. Most unusually in this dire era, they were considering direct & indirect investment. This investment entails recruitment, so the whole scheme was looked upon in a very positive light by all and sundry -- not least by us, players in the operations and recruiting industry.
Unfortunately, the corporate powers that be froze any and all "Greece growth" action. Given the country's present volatility and unstable, unpredictable politics, freezing investment in Greece does not come as a surprise; the actual reason given, however, was a surprise.

"I cannot even begin to consider any kind of involvement in a country where my corporate and personal equity could very well end up being used by its government for political expediency"

In other words, the person speaking is adamant that any investment interest candid or implied is likely to be aired by Greece's present government as indication of investor confidence in the country.

While this seems too arcane to be true, so many unexpected things happen in Greece at the present time that this indifference could be seen as just another expression of political arrogance Greece's politicians are known for.

Whatever the case may actually be, whether or not the speaker is suffering delusions or not -- the investment will be abandoned. Definitively. Unfortunately.

The following message, received today from a very structured and self-composed friend of mine does not help the delusions solution above.


Quote:
Let me share with you the following excerpt from a recent e-mail by a friend. It speaks for itself.

"I was boarding a flight yesterday and triggered the alarm as I went through the metal detector. Naturally enough I was frisked and waved through. The alarm was also triggered by the man behind me who refused to be frisked. I turned around to see what the fuss was all about and it was the parliamentary speaker Mr. Petsalnikos (note: Mr PetsAlnikos is a member of Greece's ruling Socialist party, which may contribute to the arrogance).

Presumably irritated by the fact that security hadn't recognised him, he went on and on about his position, his privileges and refused to be subjected to a body search. I tried biting my tongue but failed and asked him why he felt he was above the law and shouldn't be subjected to the same search any another passenger would be subjected to before boarding a flight.

The arrogant bastard went on and on about his privileges as speaker. His lack of sensitivity given the present circumstances was unbelievable It was so typical of an attitude by our politicians that they are somehow above the law. The same attitude that makes them so corrupt and that has lead to their total and absolute rejection."

Now spread the good word. The man deserves to have his arrogance made known to all.

As you witnessed, he had no reservation letting anyone near him know who he is. Therefore, he will not mind a little extra publicity.
UNquote.

Right.
Those of us still in Greece: let's hope that arrogance does not contribute to unemployment Greece.
(Unemployment: 17% private sector exclusively; private sector accounts for 60% of active population.)

Greeks Rise Against the Parliamentary Junta. The first step?

Consider the following wisdom snippets:
There's a 1st for everything,
Better late than never;

Well, Greeks finally got together to remonstrate and demonstrate against the parliamentary junta and the censorship, both of which have been tightened in the past 18 months.

For the first time since the tightening of the screw and the control over media by Greece's socialist government, over 120.000 persons gathered at Syntagma square, outside the house of parliament (Boule) at the centre of Athens -- likewise in other cities -- to express their discontent with widespread corruption, mismanagement & misappropriation of public funds, and control of the media, all of which helped lead the country, literally, beyond the brink of bankruptcy.

Also for the first time, the gatherings were organised in a very novel manner: quite simply through facebook.

The slogans were less original:
"Thieves", "cronies", "traitors", "criminals", "journalists, snitches, liars", "pathetic oafs", and other similarly descriptive expletives.

None of this reached the air in Greece's major channels.But then, who needs television when we've got the internet.
Right?

Putting your money where your Greek mouth is...

The Greek socialist government failed to deliver on its various promises and faces the obligation to actually implement some reform in its back yard. Back yard being, the country's Public and semi-public sectors, encompassing an incredible number of agencies (531), publicly funded organisations (+13000), and the mainstay of civil servants whose number increased by 6,460 in the year since May 2010. Or, paid more than lip service to the amazingly loss-making National Train Organisation, OSE, whose secondary crossings masters have salaries ranging from € 4.5-5.2k and the corporation manages to lose more than its turn-over.

Promises abound.
Among other things, the present Greek government will crack down on tax evasion... as will the previous one and scores of Greek governments before that.

They all will crack down on tax evasion... The present finance minister alleges that he has already cracked down on evasion, and will do more...

(One Greek prime minister has gone down in history as the I/we/he/she "will" man: Mr Andreas Papandreou, father of Geoff, the present prime minister. Thus, tax evasion Will be controlled... in the future.)

Unfortunately for Greece, just as its politicians in power repeatedly fail to deliver on promise, thus they also seem to fail to practise what they preach...


What you see in the picture above is the Socialist government's Finance minister's holiday home on Serifos, an island in the Aegean off the coast of Central Greece. The man's name is George Papaconstantinou.

Swimming pool, nice view, large stone house, newly built, unsurprisingly called "the stone house". Not bad for a guy who never actually held a steady job until recently...

The best part is, you can rent it direct from Elysian Holidays.

You do have to pay a rent for it (scroll down on the same page).

Be advised that your landlord, the finance minister, has never declared the rent in the past. Chances are he won't in the future, either.
So, don't bother asking for a receipt. You'll only embarrass the minster and his wife.


Generally speaking, it seems that in Greece the rules apply to others, not to the vociferous few promulgating them.

Privatisation -- Greek style

Or, how to raise money even when the crisis is hitting you hard and you have no money: recruit a crony as a contractor to make sure the money does not go astray!
God forbid that we waste money on education, pensions, improving public facilities, or public health...

Incredulous?
See below:

The Greek Socialist government has announced its decision to embark upon an extensive privatisation and assets sell-out programme, expected (by said government) to raise Euro: 50 billion by 2015. The figure was revised to "between 15-50" billion later.

Two ministries (Finance & Commerce) contracted out this job to NBG Group and CC&C advisors.
While NBG is Greece's largest banking concern and has been around for a while, CC&C advisors has the obvious advantage of not having been around for any while; it is a 1 GBP, same day on-line formation, company formed 14th December 2010. CC&C does not exist in fact.

CC&C is a 1 pound company formed by one Christopher Uregian, researcher at the World Bank. Chris exists, of course! Presumably one of the Cs in CC&C is for Christopher; the jury is still out on the remaining two.
This is a relatively recent photo of Chris:
Christopher has 4 years working experience. Christopher entered a quickie company in London and signed on with the Greek State as a contractor.
He will receive Euro 50k as consieration for his services, as well as a "bonus" from any success based on his services... not bad for a young researcher at the World Bank.
One of Campion's more successful graduates, to be sure!

Of course, it is useful if your family lives in Greece and owns an investment and estate development firm, ARIS UREGIAN... and a financial broker's license.

The point ιs, of course, that Chris is NOT at fault in any way. On the contrary he has an excellent assignment to show on his resume, following which he may negoatiate a better position at WB or back home.

The same cannot be said of the inane dignitaries that plague the country.-


This is a photo of Christopher's firm's (CC&C) declared headquarters in London England:Of course, no company of that name is known to inhabitants of that building -- let alone the first floor of that building where the company offices are declared to be.

Leather Lane, a well-known and busy business abode is seen below:
Just the place to set up office if you are to consult a country on privatising its assets.
Obviously, Christopher, entered a quickie company in London and signed on with the Greek State as a contractor.

Isn't it good to know that Greek politics have turned over... the same leaf!

Many Greeks deserve better -- not Greece...

Most, in fact.

Until recently, Greece was a country that was doing OK on borrowed money and little real income. A pretend country, Greece operated as a facsimile of a real country -- i.e. as if it actually had infrastructure, national consensus, a sense of national identity, communal values, etc...

Greece was very much a large corporation with its major shareholders (a score of business families) & Board (politicians and sundry, around 10,000 strong) which played at being a country...

Then the going got tough and the Greek government and Administration fell apart -- because it never was there for tough times in the first place. It was never, nor was intended ever to be, tough "enough".

The crisis blew the pretence sky-high.

The crisis also left 9.5 million odd Greeks in the middle of a wasteland.
These are the normal people, little people, who thought they lived in a normal country, who had their doubts, aspirations, hopes, etc...

• who saw their property prices rise and smiled at the easy way they made money out of gran's old piece of in the village;
• who did their best to avoid tax;
• some of whom also evaded tax (apart from the country's quasi owners: lawyers and doctors).

Now, the burden of paying for other peoples' money has fallen on those Greeks who cannot -- or know not how to avoid tax. So they pay more. Even retirees saw their pensions cut.

Greek politicians increased their income.

Really Greeks deserve better -- even if their official State does not.