Moderating expectations
Politics is, to a great extent, all about managing expectations, and anyone who raises that bar too high or too fast is at serious risk of disappointing and losing the people’s favor.
In a clear example of this observation, the Greek government has allowed premature expectations to be cultivated regarding its ability to convince the country’s international creditors to agree to slash the debt pile. Furthermore, it was also premature in heralding the end of the memorandum and the troika’s supervision of Greece.
It is clear that some measures will be taken to ease the debt load, though these will be far from spectacular. It is also obvious that the inspectors supervising the country’s progress on behalf of the creditors will not be packing up anytime soon.
The finance minister needs to be wary about raising the expectations bar. Instead, he should be preparing the people of Greece for the harsh reality that lies ahead.
