Friday the 13th, the darkest hour!

Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Paris, France; of Paris, Europe!
Courage mes amis! Nous sommes tous Parisien!

This is the most terrible, the most horrific topic to write about. TERRORISM! So many people have died because of it. So little things have ever changed in its aftermath and most of the times for the worse, too. Yet, hatred dominates. 

From racism to terrorism, radicalization of political thinking has brought us back in front of the monster we thought we had buried with WWII and definitely by the end of the so called "cold war", as marked by the fall of the Berlin wall. Fear! This new age of terrorism is a silent and undeclared war against humanity, against "Europe" and the values established by The Enlightenment, embodied in the tripartite motto "Liberté, égalité, fraternité".

Yet, this still remains our predominantly European (western) view of history, politics and geopolitics. But the world is not confined within the boundaries of the EU castle we have so meticulously tried to build. This has become evident with the recent refugee crisis, as millions of people flee Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, on top of millions of people fleeing Africa, because of ethnic/tribal/religious cleansing, terrorism and/or genocide.

This influx of people seeking refuge or asylum and why not, a better future, a better life has brought us Europeans to our knees. Yet, this surge in violence is not the outcome of our own radicalization because of the immigration wave but the outcome of the radicalization of people with completely opposite political and social values (disguised as religion) who now seek our extinction! This is a challenge that for better or for worse we cannot evade. Because the complete motto is:
  
"Liberté, égalité, fraternité ou la mort"

We Greeks achieved our own independence with this slogan "Ελευθερία ή θάνατος"

Although this is the base of idealism, dying (or killing others for that matter) for an idea or a higher cause, I would prefer to die defending an idea than die by an act of terrorism.

The counter argument is that all wars are aggressive wars as there is always an attacking side as well as a defending one. And if history teaches us, all wars had a lower motive usually the domination of land (expanding population), a scarce resource (economy), or geopolitical influence. This time is no different. 

This time, we are defending Europe!

Europe; where do we go from here?

Germany is going to push for a new Europe, one that will be less of a Union and more of a community with "shared values and policies". More power to the member state governments and less to the Commission and European bodies. A community of tight fiscal rules and disciplined budgets. 

PanGermania über alles.

This development, is empowered by the surging victory and vindication of Merkelismus, after the recent German elections. Such a development is expected to find allies in the UK political scene. Such a development will mean that suffering in the periphery and in particular Greece is going to continue. Growth for measures! Only for the willing.

This scenario did not come out of my head. Let's hope this stays a scenario and nothing more than that.

If the past serves as a guide for the future, the fall of the Roman Empire didn't happen in a day. It was a series of events. In our times, where historic time moves in warp speed, the chain of events may have already started. Is it too late? Only time will tell.

"Save ERT"

Στο άρθρο του στην Athens Voice ο Νίκος Γιάννης δίνει μια λιγότερο προφανή (σε κάποιους) αλλά συνάμα ρεαλιστική ερμηνεία στο «πανευρωπαϊκό» φαινόμενο "Save ERT".

«Τελικώς, η μεγαλύτερη δυσκολία σε μια δημοκρατία είναι να τα βάλεις με τα μικρά συμφέροντα των πολλών» γράφει. 

Μερικοί θα πουν μα φυσικά, η πολιτική μας είναι για τα συμφέροντα των πολλών μικρών. Όμως, τα μικρά συμφέροντα των πολλών μικρών είναι στην περίπτωσή μας και όλα αυτά που έρχονται σε αντίθεση με τα συμφέροντα όλων των άλλων και της κοινωνίας στο σύνολό της. Γιατί οι «κατακτήσεις» στον ιδιωτικό τομέα είναι ένα θέμα. Μπορεί να επηρεάζουν την ανταγωνιστικότητα, ευελιξία, αλλά στην τελική ο εργοδότης το κλείνει το μαγαζί, (βλ. ανεργία). Σε αντίθεση, στον δημόσιο τομέα είναι απλά και μόνο μεταφορά χρημάτων από το σύνολο (φορολογούμενοι) στο μερικό και συγκεκριμένα σε μικρές ομάδες που αποκτούν δύναμη είτε μέσω του πελατειακού συστήματος είτε απλά γιατί ελέγχουν τον διακόπτη (τα μέσα παραγωγής) ή τα μέσα της «προπαγάνδας» όπως στην ΕΡΤ.
_________________________________________________________________________________

With his article in Athens Voice, Nicos Yannis gives a less obvious yet realistic, in my opinion, interpretation of the pan-European phenomenon "Save ERT"! The Article is in Greek and I will not attempt to translate it. I will present, however, a brief summary of my understanding (my inherence) as well as my comments.

The author argues that this "Save ERT" phenomenon gained popularity amongst certain European countries and publics because 1) it triggered some democracy issues the way this decision was announced and executed, and that this has been further manipulated by the ERT people (points 5, 6), 2) EBU members face similar pressures in many other European countries like Austria, the Netherlands, and France among others and the ERT example could set precedence therefore they had a “vested interest” to proliferate the issue, 3) journalists and media people have a high international networking ability and they could propagate their cause (in solidarity) very easily and effectively, 4) converging European politics have come to share some common pro-socialistic, pro-statetism reflexes that clash with the more liberal, progressive policies of the EU bodies (very loose inherence).

The author gives further evidence to the rise of populism as a result of that political clash in Europe, part of a greater rise of extremist voices from the far right and far left (communist party and the alikes) fueled by the .

He finally argues that it is a reform movement that clashes with the status-quo. At the end of the day, the greatest challenge in a democracy is to curtail the little interests of the many, he writes.

Some will argue but of course. The aim of politics should be to take care of the needs and interests of the many little. However, the little interests of the many are in our case those that work against the greater interests of the many and society as a whole. Working class gains in the private sector is one thing. They may affect competiveness and flexibility but then again it’s a negotiated process and at the end of the line there is unemployment as it’s in the entrepreneur’s prerogative to close the business and move it to another place. On the contrary, in the public sector, such gains are just a mare transfer of money from the whole (the taxpayers) to the part (the civil servants/workers). The latter’s power to negotiate such gains arises from either the client/spoils system or from a false idea of “ownership” of the means of production (holding the power switch as we say) or of the media (propaganda means) like in the case of ERT.

The "Wirtschaftswunder"

Deutsche Welle (DW), Germany's international broadcaster carries a piece (http://www.dw.de/german-economic-miracle-thanks-to-debt-relief/a-16630511) in celebration of 60 years since the chain of events that allowed Germany to perform its "Wirtschaftswunder" and resurrect from the dead.

We read: Many Germans are still proud of the so-called "economic miracle." Post-war growth was extraordinary - the new Federal Republic's economic output doubled between 1953 and 1963 alone. Generations of schoolchildren have since be taught that the Germans are simply unbelievably hardworking people who were supported by US money after the war.

"That is a very regrettable part of the suppression of history in this country," says Joachim Kaiser of erlassjahr.de, an alliance that campaigns for the cancellation of debts in the developing world. He believes that the Germans have forgotten that they were hopelessly in debt after World War II, not unlike Greece today.

What! The German economic miracle was thank's to a debt relief? A selective default, as we would call it today?

The London Debt Agreement of 1953 established a framework whereby Germany would repay debts on which she had defaulted prior to the WWII, and repay obligations arising out of postwar assistance from the United States and Britain. The Agreement wrote down the total outstanding debt by about 50 percent and established a repayment schedule that spread payments over 30 years. Germany’s obligations in any one year were fixed so as not to exceed her ability to make transfers abroad. The agreement delayed part of the back interest due on the debt until such time as Germany reunified. With unification in 1990, Germany issued a new set of bonds that when retired will have paid off all the debts from the 1920s, 1930s, and immediate post-World War II era.

One important motivation for the debt settlement was to strengthen the German economy. Demanding that the Germans service an enormous debt was incompatible with that goal. The London Debt Agreement covers a number of different types of debt from before and after the second World War. Some of them arose directly out of the efforts to finance the reparations system (WWI), while others reflect extensive lending mostly by U.S. investors to German firms and governments i.e. "The Dawes and Young Loans", business loans between WWI and WWII, loans to German governments including Prussia and Austria -during the period of Anschluss. The agreement specifically excluded several other types of obligations, including claims for damages arising out of the Second World War and any other loan and/or obligation or "expropriation" made by the Nazi lead German government in occupied territories, i.e. Greece.

As historian Albrech Ritschl of London School of Economics points out in a 2011 interview to Spiegel On-line:

(Ritschl) - Yes, then-Chancellor Helmut Kohl (1990) refused at the time to implement changes to the London Agreement on German External Debts of 1953. Under the terms of the agreement, in the event of a reunification, the issue of German reparations payments from World War II would be newly regulated. The only demand made was that a small remaining sum be paid, but we're talking about minimal sums here. With the exception of compensation paid out to forced laborers, Germany did not pay any reparations after 1990 -- and neither did it pay off the loans and occupation costs it pressed out of the countries it had occupied during World War II. Not to the Greeks, either.

And he continues: "If the mood in the country turns, old claims for reparations could be raised, from other European nations as well. And if Germany ever had to honor them, we would all be taken the cleaners".

The London Debt Agreement deferred settlement of the reparations question, including the repayment of war debts and contributions imposed by Germany during the war, to a conference to be held after unification. This conference, however, never took place as the German government has refused to reopen this issue. The only such compensation paid has been mostly to forced workers. Only Greece, from time to time, has challenged this openly but to no avail.

The issue is not going to go down easily as "bankrupt" Greece battles to avoid social unrest, before even trying to repay a humongous public debt that is getting bigger and bigger (instead of smaller) because of the inappropriate treatment by its creditors, the mighty "Troika" (IMF, ECB, European Commission). Unlike Germany in 1950's, the current Greek plan's motivation was not to strengthen the Greek economy but rather to punish it. For spending "beyond its means" funding an exploding trade deficit (to EU partners, mostly due to the Euro) and an uncontrollable budget deficit that has derailed in the post-Lehman era (2009).

The London Debt Agreement laid the foundation for the birth of an export nation. West Germany's export strength was boosted, as the country could only service its debts as long as it earned money through foreign trade. That, as Joachim Kaiser points out, meant creditors had an incentive to buy German products. In his opinion, a similar agreement today would help highly indebted Greece - particularly as the country spent billions on German tanks shortly before the debt crisis began.

"If we said: the Germans will only get their money if they agreed to a Greek trade balance surplus - then the Greeks could export for a long time and bring in German tourists, until they had finally paid for these damned tanks," says Kaiser.

Historian Ursula Rombeck-Jaschinski of Stuttgart University says the situation 60 years ago cannot be transferred to today's problems so easily, but she does think the Germans shouldn't forget that their own country was once hopelessly indebted and dependent on foreign help.

It’s also good to remember that on top of all this, the emergence of the EEC, the EU and the common currency - the EURO – has helped Germany solidify that “export nation” status and also helped it adsorb the unification costs, themselves.

Other Sources: Timothy W. Guinnane, "Financial Vergangenheitsbewältigung: The 1953 London Debt Agreement" (Economic Growth Center, Yale University, 2004)

History is the fabric of our existence

King George I of Greece and Tsar
Ferdinand of Bulgaria at Thessaloniki,
December 1912.

This post emerged as a reaction to the historical content of this week's "Picture of the Week", namely (1912-1913) Balkan Wars. I felt I had to explain why I used a historical picture from such an ambiguous and politically sensitive period for Greece, its Balkan neighbours and Europe at large. For Greece this period marks the beginning of the end (later in 1922) of its adolescence. For the Balkans it has been an era of redrawing the map as religious and ethnic minorities and majorities class for space and influence and eventual breakaway from a dying Ottoman Empire and an emerging "New Turks" Turkey. For Europe, The Treaty of London, 1913 is possibly the last act of the Great Powers before the events that led to WWI that led to WWII that led to the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1951 that has evolved into the EEC, the EC and finally the EU. The ECSC was an international community based on supranationalism and international law, designed to help the economy of Europe and prevent future war by integrating its members.

History provides us with a collective memory; it gives us a sense of connection to place, time and community. And that sensibility is being lost. The destruction of the past and of the social mechanisms that link one's contemporary experience to that of earlier generations, is one of the most characteristic and worrying phenomena of the late 20th century. Most young people at the century's end grow up in a sort of permanent present lacking any organic relation to the public past of the times they live in. This is true for Greece as it is true for all Europe, more or less.

History is not an elective course, one for memorizing names and dates. History is the fabric of our existence. Without it, we are nothing more than children. Cicero: "To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child. For what is the worth of human life, unless it is woven into the life of our ancestors by the records of history?"

History is not a weapon but it has been used as such. Also dangerous, if not more so, is to falsify history for propaganda reasons; the artificial creation of a non-existing collective memory. This kind of propaganda creates zealots and "zealotry". This has been exercised many times in the not so distant past with notable examples the Nazis and the Soviets but also by many other self proclaimed ethnic groups that soil their zealotry on an artificially constructed history.

None the less, the lack of proper teaching of European and national history is even more critical now. As more and more the memories of the generations of War disappear into oblivience, we witness the return of separatism, nationalism and fascism. Soon -if not already- the younger generations will not be able to understand why Europe should have a Union. What led to this. Why should the "northern voters" pay with their surpluses for the deficits of the "reckless south". Soon the consequences of the loss of our collective memory will lead us to another War. This seems inevitable but is not unavoidable.

The problem with fantasia (Deus ex machina)

In Disney’s masterpiece Fantasia, Mickey Mouse, the Sorcerer's Apprentice is tired of fetching water by pail. When the sorcerer departs from his workshop, he seizes the opportunity and enchants a broom to do the work for him using magic in which he is not yet fully trained. He gets mesmerized by his newfound powers but soon the floor is awash with water. The apprentice realizes that he cannot stop the broom because he does not know how.

Not knowing how to control the enchanted broom, the apprentice cuts it in pieces with an axe. However, instead of stopping it, each of the pieces becomes a new broom and takes up a pail and continues fetching water, now at twice the speed. When all seems lost, the sorcerer returns and in a “biblical” fashion he quickly breaks the spell and saves the day.

The story is based on Goethe’s poem “Der Zauberlehrling”, written in 1797. It is a very graphical representation of a situation where someone overwhelmed by his problems summons the help of others –allies in politics- that he cannot control. Soon he realizes that he ends up with a far worse mess than the one he was trying to resolve in the beginning. Sounds familiar? Probably yes!

But there is another lesson to be learned. That is “don’t mess with things you don’t fully understand”. For example; it is very self assuring to think that a magical solution exists for Greece’s troubles.

“We first curtail the remaining public debt; then we erase all the conditions (MOU’s) and relevant legislation and because we are young and innocent we will renegotiate our magic with the universe from scratch. And if that was not enough, because we want it the universe will conspire to make it happen.”

But this doesn’t happen, even in fairytales and poems; why will it happen in real life?

And now a real life question: assuming you are wrong and the universe doesn’t conspire to make it happen. What happens next? Is there an old sorcerer to save the day? Is there a “Deus ex machina” to save us all? Not really unless you are Euripides or Goethe or a Mickey Mouse apprentice.

Thanks Giving

In contrast to our Continues Daily Complaining … I suggest we adopt the Thanks Giving custom and be thankful, for once, for what we have, instead of nagging for what we don’t or for what we should (not even could) have. Even more when we are being deprived some of what we used to have (like these days).

But I guess we feel like the Native Americans (those we call “Indians”) that stage a protest on the occasion of the “American Indian Heritage Day”. Like them that lost their world when the ex. European pilgrims and settlers took over their lands, we probably feel the same.

Since 1821, those same “pilgrims” from the East and the West (Great Powers) come to our land and took it over from the natives, the indigenous peoples of “Ynanistan”. And if that was not enough, they gave it to the Greeks, the descendants of Aristotle, Plato, Pericles and Archimedes, those that gave to the world all of what it makes it today. (The western world that is) Science, Philosophy, Democracy, Fine Arts and Architecture, Poetry, Literature, Drama and Theater; and I must be forgetting some other contributions of ancient Greece to the western Civilization.

So let’s be thankful, for once, not to the “Great Powers” that hunt us but to our Greek Heritage. That is why we stand today as a nation. That is why today there are National States. That is why there is a Europe and a Union to fight for. That is why we are not still an “Ottoman Province” or not called “Former Turkish Province Of Yunanistan”. 

(www.thefreedictionary.com/Former+Turkish+Province+Of+Yunanistan)

Let's be thankful for what we have!

Thanks Giving Day in the US: http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/us/thanksgiving-day

Indebtedness, the name of the Beast

I think we should keep an eye on the big picture; the forest not the tree! Greece has a problem but it is not The Problem. The Problem is indebtedness and the fact that we, the western world as a greater society, have build prosperity on shaky grounds without proper foundations.

Κάπως έτσι έχουν τα πράγματα

Η Ιρλανδία και η Πορτογαλία, όσο εμείς κουρευόμασταν και χτενιζόμασταν, αυτοί δούλευαν. Έτσι, σήμερα τα Πορτογαλικά επιτόκια της δεκαετίας (ομόλογα δεκαετούς διάρκειας) έπεσαν για πρώτη φορά μετά από ένα χρόνο (από 7 Ιουνίου του 2011) κάτω από το 10%! Την ίδια εποχή, τα Ιρλανδικά ήταν στο 10,8% και σήμερα στο 7,15% ενώ τα αντίστοιχα Ελληνικά ήταν στο 15.9% και σήμερα, μετά από την παραίτηση-μη παραίτηση του ΓΑΠ, το πρώτο PSI, την μπλόφα με την Τρόικα (Βενιζέλος), το δεύτερο PSI, το δημοψήφισμα του ΓΑΠ, το κούρεμα του PSI 2+, δύο Εκλογές και τρείς κυβερνήσεις, στο εκπληκτικό 27%!!!!  

Keep on Walking!

Και μετά θέλουμε να μας παίρνουν στα σοβαρά οι Ευρωπαίοι.

Time scale: December 2009, June 2012
Colors: Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Belgium, France

Mind the GAP

This post was originally written back in November 2011 as a draft for a Letter to the former PM. I believe it remains a relevant assessment of how we have arrived to this predicament. The first paragraph has been edited to account for today.

[The missing first paragrapgh]
The Greek PM made a very dangerous mistake by declaring his intention for a referendum last November. First because he already had an agreement with the other EU leaders and second because people should never be asked: "do you want to pay your taxes or not", or "are you happy with the new memorandum, or not". On the first ground, by declaring a ref. he left his lenders (not partners) hanging. On the second ground, when you address the sentiment of people you get a sentimental response. Logic needs a logical approach to work. The Greek PM (GAP) hid behind the question. He also hid his cabinet’s failure to tackle the problem effectively (not an easy task admittedly). But his indecision has caused us a default and increased the risk of Greece exiting the EZ and EU altogether. Many would argue, as they had, that this was unavoidable. Historians would do justice to those. But at some point in time there was a way out. All he had to do was start working on the structural problems that made Greek deficits almost permanent. Reduce the public sector, privatise State assets and services and use the proceeds to deleverage. The private sector was at a much better shake three years ago. Now, two years after the first bailout, the private sector has weakened to the point of breaking and still the government has not address the issue. Instead, he declared war to the private sector, in the name of the people. So, instead of throwing needless referendums (one of his great aspirations) he should have put his government to work. Last November, when he couldn’t go on anymore, he should have resigned and ask people to elect a new government with a clear mandate.

On the issue raised by many commentators and analysts, regarding the easiness of the “solution”, I’ve never said it was easy or not without serious repercussions to people and the society (Greek) overall. I am Greek, I live here (on the ground) and demonstrations run under my office (still have a job) every time. I witnessed the MARFIN branch burning, etc. I am not implying that the solution is simple. However, when you have to reduce Gov debt, there are two things you can do. Balance the budget and sell assets and use the proceeds to buy back debt or default. On the first subject, depressed asset prices (i.e. in the stock exchange) had not always been that depressed hence the delay is the government’s misdoing. Yet, at the same time, Greek debt prices have fallen as well. I have recently commented on FTAV that with each 100 Euro of revenue from sales we could be buying 270 Euros of nominal debt. So, with 5 bn of revenue from such sales we could be retiring 13.5 bn of debt or 6-7% of GDP. Furthermore, that kind of action would have signaled markets that we mean business. This can be argued on and on. Inaction is the fact thus my criticism. On the subject of unemployment I agree, however, things could have been different if we have not lost so much time and money.

Back in November 2009, I had calculated what we needed to do in order to reduce debt to GDP below 100% using the official budget figures and an estimated number of public salary/fee earners of c.a. 1 mio. It went like this:

• Cut up to 400 thousand people from public payroll (don’t had to be all layoffs – use privatizations or assign the private sector with functions currently exercised by the State like central payroll service, tax collection, public transportation, etc)
• Reduce the average salary cost by over 20%,
• increase VAT tax to up to 25% (from then 19%) for 1-3 years and then trim it back to 20%

and all that with admittedly milder forecasts about nominal GDP growth (still more aggressive than the at-the-time estimates by the IMF and EU) and some more aggressive inflation numbers, pretty much the kind we are actually experiencing. Price inflation in Greece is a direct consequence of the structural inefficiency of domestic markets. All this was an exercise but it had one basic assumption: we don’t lose time because if we don’t balance the budget fast and turn to surpluses-not merely primary but actual budget surpluses- the time lost will make debt to GDP unmanageable (today it is), weaken the private sector to the point that it cannot operate including the banks.

What actually has happened has caused mass layoffs in the private sector, instead in the public one where the problem is, and thus made the whole solution almost impossible without a hard default.

This government (Papandreou's) lost time and time was the only thing we didn’t had.

We all need to realize that the public sector can no more be regarded as a mass employer, simply because it cannot afford it (we cannot- you, me and all the other tax-paying subjects). Evasion of taxes has to be tackled but it is as hard as it can be, simply because it is considered by many as a “magkia” to avoid taxes, something that most Europeans find hard to comprehend, and rightfully so, imo. (The translation of “magkia” in English is misleading but the Greek meaning has its origins in the Ottoman times were tax collection was an act of discrimination between Christian subjects –taxed- and Ottoman Muslins that were tax exempt). 

Finally, we need to start again making things that others want to buy and sell them abroad to foreign markets thus reduce the huge trade deficit with real exports and not transit items or unwanted inventories (i.e. Olympic airways airplanes, imported medical drugs). We need to reinvest in the primary sector, agriculture, energy and basic resources and not just tourism because the latter is also the most cyclical of all services. We need to implement programs that will allow foreign companies to base factories in Greece, with low tax regimes – solely for exports to other markets, even with reduced wage agreements. Unemployment is far worse than a lower wage.

Finally we need to get serious and start working. Recovery, like freedom, is not an entitlement but a conquest that we have to fight for. (imho)

PS. we cannot devalue -via drachma (GRD)- ourselves out of this crisis since we import goods and services and have hard currency debt (official sector and PSI-EFSF).  

Another Way to Look at Things

An Abstract (by GL) based on Stephen King’s “Germany is in clover thanks to this crisis”.

(read full article)

Stephen King writes in a post dated May 24th.

[ Germany is in clover thanks to this crisis. Low interest rates and booming property prices are down to southern pain, not hard work.

Greece has become a convenient scapegoat. Yet to blame Greece alone for the eurozone's woes is absurd. Plenty of other nations have broken the fiscal rules. And there has been no shortage of sins of omission. One of the biggest such sinners is Germany.

With more and more people fearing the euro's demise, they've taken their funds north. German long-term interest rates have plunged to a ridiculously low 1.46 per cent, below the two "safe havens" of the US and the UK. Pre-euro, this capital flight would have led to rapid appreciation of the German mark.

To fix the eurozone's problems, Germany demands that southern Europeans put their financial houses in order, as if it has no responsibilities itself. The prescription is austerity, the financial equivalent of medieval leeching. Austerity is not the answer. Successful monetary unions are, in one form or another, successful fiscal unions too - which means national sovereignty is sacrificed for the greater good.

The alternative is to head back to economic conditions last seen before the industrial revolution. Then countries got richer only at the expense of others. War, colonisation and slavery were all neat ways of expropriating wealth from other parts of the world. None of that is now taking place in the eurozone, thank goodness, but capital flight is delivering a similar outcome.

This is unsustainable. Germany must declare whether it is prepared to make the necessary sacrifices to save the euro. Otherwise, when the history is written, Germany's sins of omission will surely be seen as one of the key reasons for the euro's eventual collapse. ]

(read full article)

I agree. In the past, I have written in response to a post in FT/Alphaville (FT blog):

My Title: Tectonic plate movement; collusion within the EU

The problem, with most complex problems is that there is no one clear issue to resolve. I would be the last Greek to assume the position that others are to blame. I just try to make a point that the problem Greece is facing is not because of a DNA issue. None the less, the causes of the disease have definitely social, cultural and political roots and much of them have both a Greek origin and name. However, the notion of “non-tax paying Greeks” that don’t work and need a wimp is questionable, if not utterly unjust. Most Greek citizens do pay their taxes and do work hard as indicated by data.

A more radical proof can be witnessed in modern Germany. Just consider that it was Gastarbeiters from the devastated south along with hard working Germans that helped rebuilt this great state out of the wreckage of WWII. (I don’t think we can blame the Greeks for WWI & II too). However, even this great state (of Germany) has had to adjust its international debt obligations, restructure or extent it twice in the 20th century, in order to succeed. The issue, however questionable in some respects, it is sadly true. The London Debt Agreement negotiations lasted from February 27 to August 8, 1953. Greece was among the creditor countries that participated in the Debt relief. I don’t think you think Greece was a financial superpower in 1953, do you?

“For during much of the 20th century, the situation was radically different: after the First World War and again after the Second World War, Germany was the world's largest debtor, and in both cases owed its economic recovery to large-scale debt relief.” Albrecht Ritschl (Professor of Economic History, LSE)

The basic issue today is whether this or any other problem is a European Union one that requires an EU solution. Already, there is a split between the Eurozone and non-Euro EU members, not to mention between the Eurogroup itself. This will resemble the divergent tectonic plate movement unless there is a complete and functional fiscal and monetary union. So far, the convergence theory has not worked properly and this (imo) because convergence, as in tectonic plate movement theory, is collusive in nature.