An Englishman's Home Is His Castle -- Not So for the Greek?

In no uncertain terms, the same applies to the Frenchman's house or the Spaniard's.
It usually means that the government is there to provide and uphold a sense of security for its citizens.

Unfortunately, this does not apply to the Greek's house.

Over the years, and more so recently, successive governments in Greece have shown that they are in charge...and that the rules of the game can be and are, changed at any moment.

So, if you are planning your life on what applies today you may be surprised or dismayed to discover it no longer applies tomorrow...

A few examples:
* It was announced that hybrid cars were exempt from road tax. One year later, the government revised this decision: now they, too, pay road tax.
* The income tax of last year no longer applies this year. Chances are, next year's will not be identical to this years, either. So if you are budgeting your family income -- or the corporate Human Resources budget -- you are probably in for a surprise.
* If you had planned on retiring on a specific pension, such as stipulated on your Social Security plan, and have contributed for upwards of 45 years to that effect, you are in for an unpleasant surprise: the amount you get is less that 60% of what was officially promised!
* If you purchased your house and paid all taxes and thought you were thereby free of all obligations, you are mistaken. Recently, the Greek government decided you will continue to pay taxes, additionally in solidarity or otherwise.
* If you had agreed last year to invest in Greece in, say, mineral quarries, you should not be surprised by now to discover today that today your investment is no longer welcome in the community in which you have unwittingly established your company...

There are ample examples...

Given the Greek experience thus far, we can only expect these inconsistencies to proliferate.


If ever there was an exception to the rule "people get the politicians they deserve" it would be present day Greeks; the political world in Greece seems to be populated by authoritarian, largely ignorant, inefficiant and self-serving nepotists.

What a mess.