Greece is privatising -- Invest in Greece (190th episode)

A recent article in the NYT entitled, quite aptly one may add, 
"Privatizing Greece, Slowly but Not Surely"

"But with Greece’s economy headed into its sixth year of recession, and unemployment at 25 percent, the nation’s immediate goal is to lure any investment it can through long-term leases on state properties to create jobs and get money flowing into depleted public coffers. 

“This could put the economy back in motion,” says Andreas Taprantzis, the executive director of the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund, a new agency set up to hasten privatization."

Amen. And amen. 

Now and forever, Amen!

What this A Mr Tapratzis, executive director of the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund seems to have forgotten is that, outside the Public Sector, there is very little "economy"in Greece to put into any kind of motion. (The Public Sector alone accounted for 71% of all spending in the services sector still five years ago.) 

So, selling off assets hoping to kick-start "the economy" is like trading your only house for a bucket to save a sinking boat -- rather than to plug the leaking hole.

Question: how many of us would sink any money we may have into any of the offerings?

Note 1: In the three years of what the BBC calls "the deepest recession in recorded history" Greece's various political leaders have done precious little to plug the hole that is sinking their country's economy. Other than distribute misery, that is: the bloated Public Administration is still there, the State "mis-run" hospitals are still state misrun; labour law is still restrictive and archaic; taxes are still rising on all fronts. Instead, income has dropped, pensions have been slashed, VAT and income taxes have risen 36%, spending has dried out & real estate is down by 85% vs 2009; ands yet, the Greek political system will insist on talking about growth rather than focusing on how to save the boat.

So, on the one hand, devastatingly low salaries and high employment costs, high start-up costs, high investment cost, soviet-type bureaucracy, and high & unpredictable income taxes, begs the question, why on earth would anyone in their right mind invest money in Greece? 

Maybe, in order to buy a house?

On the other hand, Greece is indeed a beautiful country, where not only is the climate temperate most of the year, but also a 30min trip out of the capital can take you to a different world altogether – a mountain or the sea! 

Of course, you don’t need to purchase a stake in the country's PPC, DEH, where a hotel room will do splendidly. Or you can rent a place and thereby help the local economy and enjoy the "parea" of the indigenous population – i.e. the conviviality. Parea, in conjunction with the right surroundings, can be magic…and it does not require a major stake in any Greek state asset.

Note 2, for those with more money than brains:

a) money travels, companies don’t. If you buy something you're stuck with it; 

b) you don’t make the law in Greece, people like a politician named Tsipras, who condones nationalizing at whim and taxing company turn-over make them; 

c) labour law in Greece officially forbids, or makes inoperable, temporary employment, double employment, flexible working hours…; 

d) In October 2012 figures corruption is officially estimated at 33% by the cronies of the Greek Minister of Finance (i.e. for example, in any given investment, there is an estimated average 33% added administrative cost due to state bureaucratic inefficiency – or simply to get your job done on time), unemployment is 26%, undeclared labour is 36%, the Public Sector employs 26% of the total workforce; that leaves ~850,000 persons legally employed, some of them yours if you invest, to produce the requisite added value to keep the country afloat;

e) statutory industrial safety regulations are contradictory, so much so that the labour inspectors can fine anyone for anything and be pretty sure there is some statutory support for their case – ex: the paths to & from a production plant must be signaled in easily washable, hard-surfaced shiny paint, with footprints drawn onto them; Slippery floors are forbidden. It is too bad that it is impossible to fully conform to both requirements. So, a fine is the way to go, later on annulled by court -- 6-10 years later.

f) the Greek state officially refuses to pay any indemnity ever awarded by any court. 

g) Greek administration and Greek law both, eye private initiative and business with suspicion: business is tolerated in Greece but not encouraged; hence the narrow straits and the bewildering bureaucracy through which business has to tread in order to operate. Greece is a western type Soviet country.  

On the other hand, Greeks are no different than other western Europeans. They are certainly no lazier if at all, nor are they especially moronic or corrupt; in a strange way, their country is not a true reflection of what the Greek population is really like, as is the case with many authoritarian countries. Indeed, being in the recruiting business I can attest to no pronounced “Greek” negative characteristics, if anything the opposite!

 

It seems that Greece's leaders, well-meaning though they may be (and that is debatable) are not up to the job at hand and that is self-evident.. Or, not to put a too fine point on it, they have displayed neither the skills-set nor the experience to pull off any restructuring -- be it a kiosk -- let alone a country at large.

So, instead of sinking money into the Greek State run country, is anyone out there willing to come and help put this joint n the right track?