Knowledge is the key
The Greek economy’s greatest ills – from the outrageous tax evasion that has upset the budget to the highest unemployment rate in Europe, declining exports, industrial and farm production, spiraling inflation and a high rate of household debt – all have one cause: the low standard of our education system. Poor schooling is ultimately responsible for the unthinking behavior of our population and the inability of the state and of businesses to incorporate new forms of knowledge into their activities and thereby increase their effectiveness through innovation and the use of modern technology. Of course, all problems and all countries have their own peculiar characteristics. But who can deny, for example, that if our tax departments were completely computerized to the point where they could be cross-referenced at any given moment, then tax evaders would be caught and corruption in transactions between taxpayer and tax official would be wiped out. If our universities issued degrees that provided better job security, if our technical education met a higher standard, then the young people and women who comprise over 30 percent of the jobless population would be able to find work. Alan Greenspan, who for 18 years has been skillfully managing the US economy, told Congress recently that the US’s inadequate education system was largely responsible for unemployment and the country’s huge income disparities. Strong economic growth in Ireland and Britain and social stability in Sweden are widely attributed to major investment in education by those countries’ governments. All successful, outward-looking Greek firms have foreign advisers who provide ongoing training for their staff, particularly executives. Our government would do well to follow their example.
