10 Ways the Greek Government Screwed Their Economy

10. Instead of tackling the crisis, it shifted blame and caused the populist Marxist takeover

This system of inept and corrupt governance survived until January 2015. The two party system which ruled Greece during the last three and a half decades was not in a hurry to fix the troubled economy. Only when there was no other way out did the Greek government start to implement the long overdue reforms. The European Central Bank, the IMF, and the EU basically forced Greece to deregulate the economy, privatize state companies and cut government spending. The aid package was dependent upon these much needed reforms. This new austere living according to their means turned out to be very hard for the Greeks. The salaries and pensions were frozen, the retirement age was increased to 65, the taxes went up, and the multitude of benefits and subsidies abolished.

The results were predictable. The populace became increasingly frustrated and angry. In such a tense atmosphere the political system could no longer hold on to power. The government failed on many levels, but most importantly, it failed to make the economy grow or to adequately explain the austerity measures to the general public. In January of this year, a radical Marxist coalition won the elections and declared that it’s no longer bound by the agreements made 5 years ago. The populist rhetoric of the Syriza coalition has brought the situation to a dead end. The standoff between the EU and the newly elected Greek government continues, and everybody is waiting to see who will blink first.

The current political crisis was brought about by the ineptness and the half-measures of the previous government, and by the general Greek attitude that it was not their fault their country ended up in such a mess. The populist Marxists were  able to capitalize on the general mood of discontent and turn the feeling of rage not against Greece’s own culture of big government, corruption, mismanagement, and entitlements, but against the international financial institutions. As they say, no good deed goes unpunished, and the international community is now paying a price for trying bail the Greeks out of the crisis of their own making.