March 28, 2024

News Cymru

Two sides to every headline

Greek Taxi Driver Strike – Day 3 – 2011.7.21

The tatic employed by the taxi drivers seems to be rolling convoys of taxis which do not completely block the road but occupy a lane or two depending on the size of the road. The taxis occasionally stop before moving on to different areas. At least that is what is reported in Thessaloniki. In other parts of Greece the taxis have..

Taxis block main transport artery - If the people support the drivers the state is powerless to stop them

blocked one of the main transport arteries linking the Peloponnese with the Greek mainland. The Greek police have largely been taking a low profile but they are beginning to issue tickets. As I mentioned in yesterday’s taxis strike article, as long as the public is supporting the efforts of the taxi drivers the state is powerless to do anything.

The Nation, a US magazine carries an article of the Greek crisis read the full article here. While it is nice to see Americans taking an interest in Greece the article is probably the shallowest piece of journalism I have ever had the displeasure to read.

DEI, Greek power company is actually profitable but author says the government should target it for cost cutting above other loss making activities

To pick out a couple of points. The author talks about DEI For example, the government has found it easier to impose across-the-board wage and pension cuts on central government employees and most pensioners than to cut operating and personnel costs in the state-run enterprises that include public transport companies like the… Public Power Corporation

This shows that the author has little of no understanding of the Greek national power company (DEI). DEI actually contributed to the government balance sheet to the tune of a half a billion Euros in 2010. To say that PASOK has made a mistake not targeting this organisation for cost cuts is absurd. There are many things that PASOK and Papandreou can be criticised for but not making profitable state owned companies a priority for cost cuts is not one of them.

The article goes on Papandreou has also failed so far to prosecute large private-sector tax evaders who have connections or can threaten the government that they will pull their companies from Greece.. Again of all the mistakes that Papandreou and PASOK have made, this is not one of them although I am sure they would like to get a handle on tax evaders. The fact is though tax evasion and keeping money out of the pockets of government has got to be seen as the sensible thing to do, especially given the mismanagement of consecutive Greek governments.

The article constantly refers to “Greece” and “Greeks” when referring to the Greek government debt. As if the state and the people are the same entity. For example But given the seriousness of Greece’s predicament—the country had been living beyond its means for years by borrowing other people’s money, until lenders stopped wanting to lend anymore

There is a crucial difference is, by and large that the Greek people live within their means. It is the Greek government which is out of control with the spending. The two should not be confused.

The author says Papandreou has sharply scaled back Greece’s military spending, which, ridiculously, was the highest in the EU as a percent of GDP (it was even higher, percentage-wise, than that of the United States). – Ridiculous? I wonder what percentage of the GDP the USA would be spending if a country with which it had serious disagreements and territorial disputes was located in the place of Mexico.

Although I commend the author for having a basic grasp of Greece. I think the author has over stretched his knowledge in a few areas.

Other news today shows the government deficit is continuing to increase despite that massive burden that is being borne by the private sector and the Greek people. And we are not talking tenths of percentage points here. The Greek government deficit has increased by over 21% compared to the same period in 2010.

Something is seriously wrong with the Greek government when they achieve the exact opposite of what they wanted and yet they do not change their methods.

A rat in a maze is more intelligent that PASOK and Papandreou. At least a rat knows to change his actions if the results he is getting are the opposite of what he wants

A rat in maze is more intelligent than Papandreou and the PASOK party on this evidence. But still the Greek government insists that the answer is for the people to give the government even more of their money.

And it is not only the government deficit that is spiralling out of control, unemployment is also a massive problem and growing rapidly. The unemployment rate has increased by almost 25% comparing April 2010 with April 2011.

As I have said before may times, Greece is either being run by incompetents or by people who deliberately want to implode the economy. Either way things need to change and fast.

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