The next day is also crucial
The decisions announced by Prime Minister George Papandreou yesterday are going to be very tough to swallow but are also entirely necessary in order to pull Greece back from the brink of bankruptcy. However painful the reform package may be, most Greeks understand that it is a matter of national interest to rein in the country’s debt and reduce the public deficit. Now, however, it is up to the prime minister to adopt equally bold measures on the structural reform front. The government needs to organize the state’s assets so that they are utilized as best they can be, it needs to crack down on closed-shop professions, increase competitiveness and productivity and slash the red tape that becomes the stumbling block for so many good investments. These kinds of decisions need to be taken now in order to breathe some life into the stagnant economy and get it back on the path of production. If the government rests with the reform package announced yesterday, we will find ourselves poorer than before, gross domestic product will shrink and we will become slaves to debt in a very short time.
