Saying yes to outside assistance
Greece?s real economy needs a shot in the arm, and quickly. The market is all but dead as liquidity is scarce and taxes are high. Widespread uncertainty is not helping much either.
That said, Lucas Papademos, the country?s provisional prime minister, is making a crucial visit to Brussels today. The Greek government must hammer out a plan together with European Union officials aimed at getting the country back on a path of economic growth.
Our European partners, who are also contributors to Greece?s bailout package, appear to have finally realized that no amount of austerity measures can pull the nation out of the fiscal hole it has dug itself into. Meanwhile, we must be honest with ourselves and our peers and acknowledge that the Greek state is incapable of seeing through the mammoth tasks required of it without outside help. We will need all the help we can get.
We can certainly expect the familiar noise from the critics of ?foreign intervention.? But what we are talking about here is help that will see Greece get back on its feet and undertake projects that will bring money, jobs and growth.
