Playing Hard Ball

What do John Maynard Keynes and Yanis Varoufakis have in common? The answer is that the former must have been the spiritual father and ideological mentor to the latter, who is now trying to enforce the former's political theories and put them into practice. Keynes was a strong supporter of the idea that a re-distribution of wealth that is acquired by the more privileged layers of society should go back to the less fortunate, with a view to restore some type of equilibrium in their cohabitation. It is with no doubt the first time that this theory is attempted on such large scale. In this context, it comes as no surprise to me that this experiment is applied in Greece these days, as the lower layers of society have been completely drained and depleted to such degree over the course of the last five years to reach rock bottom. There is a Greek proverb that says "you cannot take from him who does not have" and this proverb is reflecting with an amazing accuracy the purchasing power of the Greek middle-class today. Even if someone were to continue the austerity programme of the previous Government, he would be soon confronted with one reality. Greek households don't have any more money to support the Greek deficit, either in the form of over-taxation, extra-ordinary contributions or otherwise. At least you gotta give Varoufakis this much. He is attempting to put some money back into the pockets of the Greek middle-class (or I should be more precise - he is trying to avoid creating a condition that would require them to put their hands back into their pockets only to find them empty - which carries certain psychological value), probably with a view to yield better results when he attempts to tax the same social groups in the future. No matter what, he has already made a name for himself as the Greek Rock-Star of Economics. The question that remains to be seen, is whether he will be given his Star in the Economic Walk of Fame.