Greece in crisis

Kerem Öktem

This week’s seminar came in two instalments: It began with a roundtable meeting with Dimitris Sotiropoulos, Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science and Public Administration of the University of Athens, on the crisis in Greece. A couple of hours later, it was complemented by the seminar with the same speaker and Dimitrios Gkintidis, this time on the social dimensions of the crisis in Southeast Europe. Both events were intellectually truly stimulating, despite the rather sombre topic.

Prof. Sotiropoulos painted what can only be called a disheartening image of the social and political impacts of the crisis in Greece, which has witnessed negative GDP growth since 2008 and a rise in relative poverty to above 25 per cent. Unemployment has risen from around 8 per cent in 2008 to a staggering 26 per cent today, with more than 55 per cent of young people out of work. For those with jobs, real wages have contracted considerably. A university professor, for instance, earns around 40 per cent less than in 2010. There is little doubt that the lack of perspective and hope for self-realization especially among young people comes with a number of social consequences, most of them less than desirable. They range from emigration particularly of the more educated strata to widespread political apathy, radicalisation and xenophobia.

IMF-EU Conditionality in Greece: Learning from mistakes?

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New SEESOX publication: "Reforming Greece: Sisyphean task or Herculean challenge?"

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Greek democracy “at gunpoint”

Democracy is usually the first casualty of severe economic crises, and Greece is no exception to the rule.

The current political crisis is the outcome of an economic recession, unprecedented in the history of Greece as an independent nation-state. The centre-left Pasok government and the wider political class have been the target of social anger, expressed violently and frequently in protests outside the national parliament, amid a sense of political insecurity and unpredictability. The political mood in Greece is vile: political parties across the board are discredited, the two-party system is being stretched to its limits, and protest politics are becoming the prime means of direct political involvement. Two years after Pasok took power in October 2009, Prime Minister George Papandreou and his government have been forced to resign and to share power within a government of national unity, with the prospect of another election early next year.

A crisis at the gates that should not be underestimated

Jens Bastian*

The political and central bank authorities in Tirana should not underestimate the twin Greek economic and sovereign debt crises. Their potential implications medium-term are considerable. Some spill over effects are already manifesting themselves in Albania. In a word, despite a remarkable economic success story during the past years, Albanian policy makers would make a grave mistake by judging that they are immune to developments in Greece.