By Ilias Sourdis, Huffington Post
Greeks due to the collapse of their economy are still under lethal Troika's (IMF-ECB-EU) financial austerity measures which accelerated poverty, bankruptcies, massive unemployment and suicides. Surprisingly, their government announced the resumption of selling bonds to pile-up more debts.
This announcement surprised even the most optimistic Greeks who don't feel any improvements in the economy but ironically, are also experiencing further deterioration of their daily lives. Paradoxically, this idea is supported by the same financial institutions who are relating the Greek economy to everything that represents evil, their refashioned economic strategy from fiscal managers to debt pushers raises speculations about their real motives.
Ever since Greece joined the Euro, surrendered its monetary sovereignty and after the collapse of its economy, all major economic decisions are prescribed by the Troika which in effect reduced the Greek Government's role similar to a Customers Service Department.
It's good to be optimistic and open-minded, listening to reasonable analysis about signs of improvements but, floating the buzzword of economic recovery while uncertainty is lingering over the suffering Greeks is an over-exaggerated and irresponsible assessment. Raising hopes of people who lost everything and telling them that they will be pulled off poverty because the economy is improving, it's a serious statement that demands accountability, making misleading false claims -a non-negotiable cause for punishment.
There is little doubt that the architects of this new path to probably another cliff, are the ECB, IMF and Germany, who in order to get rid of Greece's requirements for more EU sovereign guarantees, are purposely ignoring the fragile confidence on the Greek bonds as well as the incompetence of Greek fiscal regulators and pushing Greece to more expensive borrowings.
Obviously these bonds are designed by financial gurus who believe that an ailing and over-borrowed economy can recover with more borrowing without ever explaining how and when these debts will be paid back.
Through market news reports and rumors we learn that in order to provide safety net for the investors-speculators, these bonds are protected by UK laws and offer at high yields. Greeks, who are enduring the endless battle against austerity measures imposed on them due to monstrous national debt, are not celebrating over this imaginary economic success and are entitled to know if the government and its financial advisers have violated the law by surrendering sovereignty of these bonds to the British laws.
Treasury bonds comprise part of the country's sovereignty and surrendering jurisdiction to a foreign law might constitute treason.
Furthermore the supporters of this idea for the new borrowing spree, in order to generate interest on these bonds, created an artificial optimism which they use as a vote of confidence that the economy is recovering and even trumpeting to the world a budget surplus. They are completely ignoring the fact that the selling of government bonds resulted to accumulated massive national debt and is proven to be beyond doubt, a recipe for disaster.
As most of the businesses are bankrupt or at the brink of bankruptcy, unemployment keep soaring, job creations at a grinding halt, the majority of young Greeks have completely lost hope if they will ever find a job in their life. This situation has pushed suicides rate even higher and the people are wondering if their officials know how to define financial success.
While Greeks are blindly blaming the present financial mess to faulty national and international economic strategies practiced by successive incompetent governments, this government must stop self-declaring itself as the savior of the economy. Additionally must cease to broadcast the claim of economic success story with budget surplus and refrain from further borrowing on behalf of the Greek people without disclosing the full details of such borrowings.
Governing over so much poverty and misery, with 27% unemployment, deep cuts on wages and pensions, heavy taxation on poor and unemployed citizens, with no new business no new jobs, declaring unsubstantiated claims of economic success is an insult to the suffering people. Besides, that fiscal responsibility is their sworn duty and not an achievement for celebration.
Despite the several multi-billion economic packages prescribed and delivered to Greece by the Troika, not even one Euro was allocated for job creation or to support some of the struggling businesses to keep employing people and help the ailing economy. Even the real estate sector which prior to the crisis was providing employment to a large number of people today is at a full stop. Therefore, instead of citing unspecified economic success Greek government must answer to its people the question:
Which sector of the economy performs so well that it generated this surplus budget?
In plain words, they went to the dining table of the Greek family, took away a big portion of their food and demonstrated it to the world that Greeks have surplus food, hailing it as an economic miracle.
Undoubtedly this "economic miracle" is inaccurate, unrealistic and exaggerated. As Greece is holding local and Euro election this month, suspicions are high that the ruling parties are using this "success story" to support pro-EU candidates.
Despite the efforts of the government to raise the bar of their performance, they cannot hide the fact that not only they failed to improve the lives of the Greek people but they also failed miserably to identify revenue generating sources to allocate even a fraction of the borrowed billions in order to help the national economy and create job opportunities.
Unfortunately, for indebted economies like Greece's, the strategies and solutions which are in practice today resemble a depressing economic philosophy. Prescribing the accumulation of more debts to service old debts, is equivalent to seeing someone almost drowning in his flooded house and instead of emptying the water from it, we keep adding more.
This strategy of keeping us afloat and perpetually at risk of getting drowned in our already flooded houses is unrealistic, and could probably be applicable only in Voodoo Economic Therapy.
