Tag Archives: competitiveness

  Reforms with serious side effects. A new society class has emerged in Greece of the economic crisis: the Working Poor. Skilled women and men, mostly university graduates, who work their way through with bad paid jobs. The working poor are working people whose incomes fall below a given poverty …

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Small producers of dairy, cheese and other products will be allowed to sell in Greece’s farmers’ markets -Laiki -. According an athensnewsagency report a regulation in the bill for the outdoors trade has been submitted by the Ministry of Economy and Development to the Parliament. The regulation will allow owners …

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How can Greece be competitive when the taxation system changes once a year, liquidity is a rarity, capital controls tie the hands of entrepreneurs and investors and the tedious negotiations with international creditors undermines the atmosphere in the Greek economy? The answer is simple: it can’t. In the Swiss-based International …

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High taxes do not adversely affect the competitiveness of the Greek economy and business. This was claimed by Greek Economy and Development Minister, Dimitris Papadimitriou, at the 10 CEO Summit in Athens. Papadimitriou’s claim had one immediate effect: to turn the CEOs and executives of large companies attending the summit …

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The German economic recipe to ruin the Eurozone is through wage race to the bottom? According to Institute of German Economy in Cologne: Export success – Cost matters The international comparison shows: The lower the unit labour costs – the ratio of labour costs to productivity – compared to the …

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The so-called Wise Men Commission suggested to Greek Labor Minister Giorgos Katrougalos to lower the minimum wage for young employees below 25 years old to merely 434 euro gross per month which is €364 net. According to the Wise Men’s findings, the minimum wage for this category of employees should …

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German chancellor Angela Merkel defended the German policy in the euro crisis. Citing the example of Greece, she claimed that “the right mixture was found” and added that Germany was not the only country supporting this police to tackle the economic crisis in the Eurozone. In an interview to German …

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Competitiveness is good – if it is real. With seven private company active in the energy sector, Greece’s Public Power Company (DEH) sees itself obliged to adjust to the new market conditions. As of 1. July 2016, PPC will grant 15% reduction to those private and business customers who pay …

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You certainly know the old IMF joke: “Greece needs to boost its competitiveness via wage decreases.” Managing Director Christine Lagarde said it x times in 2011 and 2012 and 2013 but she stopped telling it around after wages dropped by 40% in Greece and Greeks were not able to laugh …

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The Eurozone’s masks have fallen. Hardly anyone has anymore the illusion that the 3. bailout aims to facilitate Greece to pay back its debts and that it therefore needs  more austerity or “reforms” as they are euphemistically been called. On one hand the 3. bailout brings additional cuts in health …

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Hurrah! The milk and bread market in Greece is to be liberated! The much anticipated liberation has been pushed forward by the Troika lenders since the first bailout agreement in 2010. The OECD had provided its famous Competition Assessment Tollkit for this. But although the previous Greek governments had passed …

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More than 40,000 food items are been sold with a poisonous 10% Value Added Tax hike as of today and expect to burden the average Greek household with at least 55 euro per month.Beef, coffee, tea, cocoa, spices, sugar, oils – except olive oil, ice-creams, chocolates, but also condoms and …

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Do you remember the serfs and servants and villeins and peasants in the good old times of feudalism and the Middle Ages? If you don’t, I have good news for you! The custom of working in return of goods instead of salary revives in Greece of modern European Union and …

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It is certainly hard to believe your eyes but it is true. Hoteliers in some popular tourist destinations raised their prices this year to even up to 95%. According to hotels search engine trivago.gr, champion in price increase for the month June was Imerovigli village on the island of Santorini …

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Greeks may do bad in economics but they do great in sex! However, they don’t do as good as the Croatians who top the list of the global survey conducted by the magazine “Men’s Health”. And here I have to admit that I finally understand what IMF-Head Christine Lagarde said …

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Greece is improving. In terms of competitiveness, not in terms of a living standard in dignity. According to World Economic Forum annual report, Greece demonstrates “marginal improvement in competitiveness” (that’s usual low wages), while “financial access, bureaucracy and corruption remain serious problems”. I suppose the neo-liberal technocrats of WEF did …

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I too often fall to the Greek trap of “being introvert”. I focus on the strict Greek reality of protests, mocking and grimy mood, and forget to take a look around. For example, how our esteemed German allies and friends look at Greece of success story, while it struggles – …

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Don’t get fooled by the IMF review officially admitting grave mistakes in the application of austerity program in Greece> Nothing will change in the fiscal adjustment program demanding the last euro drop even from the poor: the review urges the Greek government to stick to the implementation of the ‘wrong …

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 In case you missed this breaking through development: German Chancellor Angela Merkel must have got off her bed this morning in a cheerful mood and a teasing sense of humour. Speaking from far-away Berlin, Merkel sends her messages to world public in general and the citizens of bailout EU-countries in particular. Merkel said that:  1. “Painful …

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I always knew, the EU officials had no idea about the real life in Europe, the real economic and social situation of EU- citizens and – taxpayers who come up for their expenses. And now this is officially confirmed, through an internal EU-Commission report asking for salary increases hikes and claiming “there …

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