OPINION

Don’t believe the hype

Every day we are bombarded with media reports featuring a fresh round of ridiculous statements that are presented as the line adopted by decision makers at the International Monetary Fund, the European Commission or the European Central Bank.

Most of these stories explain somewhere in the second or third paragraph that the statements are in fact the opinion of some bureaucrat and not an official policy line. Nevertheless, the effect on the citizens reading the statements is that they are about to be slammed with a slew of new austerity measures.

The members of the troika missions to Athens need to understand that they cannot just come out and say whatever they’re thinking at any given moment. For their part, the media outlets that revel in presenting such statements as the latest proof that the country is on the brink of destruction either understand nothing about the subtleties of an international negotiation or are consciously trying to undermine the process.

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