Hardly a month at the office of Finance Minister of debt-ridden Greece and Yiannis Stournaras sees a light at the end of the crisis tunnel. You know this tunnel the Greek economy entered some years ago.
“Despite the problems the Greek economy shows signs of improvement. There are signs of improvement in competitiveness. I see light, not everything is black, ” Stournaras said on Friday.
Last month and right after took office, Stournaras had said “I see light, but the tunnel is long.”
PS I’ afraid the train is much faster than Stournaras’ estimations about the tunnel’s length…
a british economist once said ‘he thought he saw light at the end of the tunnel’but feared it was the light of an oncoming train
@ cyril mc donnell
Since failure is not an option, Greece’s economic future rides on a train traveling on a SINGLE AND ONE-DIRECTIONAL railroad track, which is laid in a long and dim-lit tunnel. Eventually, the pessimists, naysayers and doomsayers will all be proven wrong. GREECE’S REFORM EFFORTS WIILL SUCCED !.
Do share with us as it appears you have some special knowledge that no one else possesses! So you believe that the reforms are actually taking place? That they will stimulate the economy? Please do enlighten us…
@ JudyJag & Ephilant
Some people for a variety of reasons will see light at the end of the tunnel for Greece’s economic crisis only when either hell freezes over, or pigs fly, or there’s two Thursdays in a week.
Now Nicolas, even you know that it is customary to give a proper answer to a proper question, instead of a non-answer like this.
Simply look at my comment below. That is why it won’t work, even if pigs did fly…
You obviously still have a long way to go before it dawns on you. Just be prepared my friend. It isn’t the falling that hurts, it’s the landing. And yours is going to be one god almighty thump…
It is in my interests to see Greece recover, as I live here and care very deeply for this country. Please let me know the basis of your optimism….I have read very widely about the current situation and note that economists of all political persuasions are united in their belief that Greece needs complete reform of one kind or another before any development can be achieved. Political commentators are unanimous in their view that this is not being done. if you have insider knowledge that everything is ok and we can go back to our frappes, I think we should know!
why? maybe he read something about kontratiev:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kondratiev_wave
If he hadn’t he has now. but it would be nice to know where this total, blind belief and optimism stems from. I doubt of Kotratieff is the cause, he never really had that effect on people. In fact, they still don’t accept what he had to say, do they?
Thanks for this. Very interesting. According to the Krondratiev cycle, we are in the Winter phase of a downturn in global capitalism and can expect another approx 20-30 years of misery at least until we enter the Spring phase. Somehow this doesn’t make me feel better! Of course, the same system will be in place so history will keep on repeating itself and human evolution will be hindered once more.I suppose I am expected to be happy when another branch of Starbucks opens on my road with less than min wage jobs. Yipee! progress!
@ Nicolas. Since when is failure not an option? It is more often than not the outcome of any venture, intentionally or otherwise.
What you Nicolas don’t seem to understand is that NOTHING CAN HAPPEN until the present situation is completely done away with, and that includes removing ALL of those contributing to it. Even if that contribution pretends to be finding remedies. Because that is all it is, pretence, in order to keep up the pilferaging the Countries and robbing the people in Greece, in Europe, everywhere. This is not a Greek problem!
The system is rotten to the core, every cog in it needs to be removed and destroyed before a new system can be constructed. You simple CANNOT build a new system on the rotten foundations of an old one. You end up with another rotten system, which is nothing but the mirror-image of its pre-decessor.
That is not the observation of a pessimist or a neigh-sayer, it’s the observation of reality that is slapped in our faces on a daily basis. And not just in Greece.
There is no reforming a system that needs dismantling. That is the harsh reality of present day Greece and Europe, and the longer the dismantling is put off, the more the People of Greece and Europe will suffer.
“Light at the End of the Tunnel”
Where is the end of the Tunnel?
Economy of Ancient Greece
Main article: Economy of ancient Greece
At its economic height, in the 5th and 4th centuries BC, ancient Greece was the most advanced economy in the world. According to some economic historians, it was one of the most advanced preindustrial economies. This is demonstrated by the average daily wage of the Greek worker which was, in terms of wheat, about 12 kg. This was more than 3 times the average daily wage of an Egyptian worker during the Roman period, about 3.75 kg.[9]
We can once again be economically strong. It is just a matter of discipline and hard work with steady economic growth.
Just go back to basics:
1) Reduce your spending.
2) Purchase only what is immediately necessary.
3) Instead of hiring a painter to paint your house, learn to do it yourself. What i mean by this is instead of buying imported machinery or machinery parts let us produce them on our own home ground. Greeks are very ingenuitive when it comes to it. I once read how a Cretan farmer used the engine of shot down Nazi aircraft to automate his windmill at times when there was no wind.
4) Make it easier for the citizen to open up his own business. Without interferences. Just register a business name, obtain a tax file number for the business and away you go at your own. Even if you have no money. How many Greeks know how to make biscuits or other sweets? How many know how to lay bricks or lay tiles? How many are good carpenters or good at wood or metal turning? How many can weld?
5) Spread the businesses, they do not all have to be located in Athens and Thessaloniki. Today there are many large cities that need good private sector businesses and services, such as Patra, Kalamata, Ierapetra, Paros, Mytilene, Polygiros, Kavala, Preveza, Corinth, Giannena, Volos, and many more.
6) People who have land in the villages and still are in Athens, go back to the villages, where you can grow something. Just remember that the number one thing that everyone needs is food, so grow it and sell it. Why not be a computer programmer and a farmer at the same time.
7) Think what you can do with your own hands first, we can do many things.
8) Reduce public sector employees by natural attrition and DO NOT re-fill the position. And any public employee caught in bribes, terminated without further pay or penalty. And to multi-skill the public service so as to be usefull in several positions. Just like we are in our own home (we clean, we cook, we communicate, we fix things etc.
JUST BASIC Home Economics.
Re-incarnation of Maggie Tatcher???? You cannot run a country like a corner shop. there are such things like social care, health care etc. which by the nature of things are non-profit making. Or should be…
what you are advocating is a return to individualism, which was the precursor or capitalism and got us in the mess we’re in in the first place. As said before, you cannot rebuild a system on the rotten foundations of an old system. You end up with a rotten system.
This needs a complete rethink, a different foundation, a different mindset. And it will take time, and unfortunately a lot of pain Just let me pick one thing out of your suggestions:
any public employee caught in bribes, terminated without further pay or penalty.
So what or who is there to stop any of them to simply transfer 8 or 10 million into a bank accoutn somewhere and give Greece and the people the 2 fingers?
And isn’t that exactly what is happening?
People need to be educated to think in terms of community and society instead of personal gain and private bank accounts. That is the basic reality of it, and the gigantic task at the same time.