Adopting reforms on time
Key changes and reforms aimed at tackling big problems must take place when they are due. Important measures must never be put on hold, because one cannot predict later economic and political conditions. A couple of European examples has come to confirm the rule. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who had both made reforms the main plank of their campaign platform, have now been forced to slow down the streamlining of their countries’ social security systems for political reasons. If that is the case for France and Germany, the powerhouses of Europe’s economy, then what can one expect from Greece and its troubled economy? The social security legislation that was recently passed in Parliament must be implemented with cautious but nevertheless quick steps. Greece’s demographic trends have been stable if not worsening. The social security issue constitutes a time bomb at the foundations of society and any further foot-dragging will only exasperate the situation.
