Greek Gov are Corrupt Borrowers Paying for Political Patronage: Former Finance Minister

[uhnope]

Former Greek Finance Minister Stefanos Manos: "In Greece we produce practically nothing, and we were taking on massive debts just to live lavishly."

Which included hiring public employees by the hundreds of thousand and plying them with perks. Bonuses were handed out for arriving at work on time and knowing how to use a computer. Forestry workers got bonuses for having to work outdoors. Each state employee got a yearly bonus worth two monthly paychecks regardless of performance.

The state-run airline handed out free tickets to voters before an election.

The ruling parties did not want to risk alienating voters by cutting back on any of this so they just kept borrowing money. The arrival of the Euro made this borrowing even easier and cheaper (in the short run).

The Greek government cooked their books to hide the fact that they would never be able to pay back the loans. (Goldman Sachs helped them do this.)

The reason, according to Manos: "To keep armies of supporters relying on the system."

I think the bank loaners are as guilty as the Greek politicians that borrowed the money. But portraying this as the big bad EU/Germany beating up on poor innocent Greece is BS.

http://time.com/3951187/greece-tempts-the-fates/

[geek tragedy]

1. everyone knew that was what Greece was up to--crap even I knew it sitting

here in the USA never having been to the place.

I remember thinking admitting Greece was a WTF? moment.

So, why the heck did they admit this ticking time bomb of corruption and fiscal recklessness into a currency that was obsessed with combatting inflation?

[TreasonousBastard]

2. This is true, and...

it didn't have to be that way...

From Wikipedia:

According to World Bank statistics for the year 2013, the economy of Greece is the 43rd largest by nominal gross domestic product at $242 billion[105] and 52nd largest by purchasing power parity (PPP) at $284 billion.[106] Additionally, Greece is the 15th largest economy in the 27-member European Union.[107] In terms of per capita income, Greece is ranked 38th or 40th in the world at $21,910 and $25,705 for nominal GDP and PPP respectively.

Greece is a developed country with high standards of living[citation needed] and high Human Development Index.[108][109] Its economy mainly comprises the service sector (85.0%) and industry (12.0%), while agriculture makes up 3.0% of the national economic output.[110] Important Greek industries include tourism (with 14.9 million[111] international tourists in 2009, it is ranked as the 7th most visited country in the European Union[111] and 16th in the world[111] by the United Nations World Tourism Organization) and merchant shipping (at 16.2%[112] of the world's total capacity, the Greek merchant marine is the largest in the world[112]), while the country is also a considerable agricultural producer (including fisheries) within the union.

With an economy larger than all the Balkan economies combined, Greece is the largest economy in the Balkans,[113][114][115] and an important regional investor.[113][114] Greece is the number-two foreign investor of capital in Albania, the number-three foreign investor in Bulgaria, at the top-three of foreign investors in Romania and Serbia and the most important trading partner and largest foreign investor of the Republic of Macedonia. Greek banks open a new branch somewhere in the Balkans on an almost weekly basis.[116][117][118] The Greek telecommunications company OTE has become a strong investor in Yugoslavia and other Balkan countries.[116]

The Greek economy is classified as advanced[119][120][121][122][123] and high-income.[124][125] Greece was a founding member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC). In 1979 the accession of the country in the European Communities and the single market was signed, and the process was completed in 1982. In January 2001 Greece adopted the Euro as its currency, replacing the Greek drachma at an exchange rate of 340.75 drachma to the Euro.[126] Greece is also a member of the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization, and is ranked 24th on the KOF Globalization Index for 2013.

This passes by things like the manufacturing sector making little for export or consumer use but primarily concrete and such for subsidized construction. Greece assembles some machinery, but has little capability for machine tooling or other basic industrial functions.

Wealthy, and not so wealthy, Greeks are more adept at tax avoidance than Americans are. And bribing the population to shut up and vote the right way is something all politicians aspire to, but in Greece it became a high art.

I'm not sure your average Greek citizen should have to pay for the government bullshitting its away into the Eurozone, but someone has to before they break it.