It's a Kind of Magic

If it were a football match Greece vs. Germany we might hope against hope for a winning outcome, though we all understand how unlikely that is in the real world. If it were a beauty contest we might have a competitive advantage due to the beneficial exposure to the sun. If it were a regatta we might be the undisputed dominating power in the sport. But it is none of that. It is the Economy we are talking about and it is about the running of the State and its household. And we are up against the Germans in this competition, alas the Maker himself. No one commands the discipline better than the Germans, who seem to master all facets of this game. So, in an honest approach we should give them credit that they know what they are talking about and why. But at the same time I am reading reports from renowned Economists like Berry Eichengreen and from reputable Institutions around the world, such as the Berkeley, who released a report last year showing that in the time span between 1974 - 2013 only three countries on the planet had managed to show a budget surplus in the region of 5% for extensive periods. These three countries are Singapore - a family run country basically, Norway - a country with vast Oil resources, and Belgium that experienced a tremendous growth in the 90'ies. And when I am reading that I cannot help thinking that there must be a catch somewhere for Germany's non-negotiable stance to request from a country with a destroyed economy to achieve a budget surplus of 4,5% by the end of 2016. Does Germany really think that Greece can deliver on that requirement? Is this requirement reasonable or even feasible? I don't know the answer. But suspicious minded as I occasionally am, I can only think of two possible explanations. The first one is that this is a simple display of power, simply because "Germany can". The second one is that Greece is being reprimanded for the fact that it has been continually failing to elect a political staff that does not bear the characteristics of opportunistic conduct in the manner with which it carries out political duties and therefore needs a strong "reality check". Europe is probably tired of the fact that our political delegations act in a manner that is inconsistent with the progress that political science has achieved over the last century. A simple manifestation of that gap can be found in the essay of our Minister of Finance that he submitted to his colleagues when requesting for the extension of the current plan and in the response adopted by Germany as a comment to that essay. This then leads to the paradox that a whole nation perceives his staff as being of the highest caliber possible, while in the actual arenas in which they are supposed to perform, they are perceived as political junk. And this gap, if you ask me, next to being indicative of our intellectual capacity, is most likely beyond easy and quick repair...

Post by Theodore Patsellis - PRP Law

tpatsellis@prp-law.com