Faced with tough choices
This is a crucial period for Greece. No one heeded the warnings of our veteran politicians and international organizations when they were first issued. The result was that first the previous government of Costas Karamanlis behaved in an utterly irresponsible manner with regard to imposing fiscal discipline and, later, the government of George Papandreou failed to come out of its pre-election dreamland and face reality in timely fashion. As things now stand, it is clear that the government will have to adopt some quick and decisive measures if it wants to continue borrowing money, though there is no guarantee that such steps will lead Greece out of the storm. The moment may very well have come for the government to weigh the pros and cons of accepting the joint EU-IMF bailout plan. Whatever it decides to do there is no way of avoiding the painful and unpopular reforms it so fears. Therefore, rather than prolonging this period of insecurity and the destructive effect it is having on the country’s dynamic, maybe it is best to embark on the path of rehabilitation in an orderly way.
