Not-so-invisible hand
If we are to believe the opinion polls, consumers complain about high prices. If we are to believe TV, the problem of high prices is caused by some unnamed interests that make profits by keeping prices artificially high. If we are to believe the Development Ministry, free competition will take care of the problem. Consumers will simply go for the lowest prices so the more expensive goods will stay on the shelves and, as a result, profiteers will have to lower their prices. At the same time, the free market cheerleaders inside the Development Ministry do their best to undermine competition. So they have introduced market regulations that ban special offers before the official sales period starts. This means that shops cannot compete in terms of working hours or price levels and the only available sphere of competition is the beauty of salesmen and saleswomen – until there is a ban on this, too, for being a sign of sexism or, worse, of «unfair competition.» The Development Ministry is perhaps the most appropriate embodiment of the conservatives’ middle-ground policy. It wants to achieve everything and its exact opposite at the same time. So it wants competition in order to lower prices but it also makes laws to protect shops against competition. It proclaims the freedom of economic activity but at the same time dictates the working hours of shop owners. Perhaps the situation reflects one of the deepest convictions of Greek society, which wants economic growth but without the cost. We want new jobs but no factories. We want tourism but we build shoddy rooms to let. We want sustainable development but we build illegal holiday houses on precious forestland. We want investment but we stifle businesspeople. We want reforms without changing a thing. There is no Christian religion without paradise and hell. There is no market without profit and bankruptcy.
