Of Greeks and Gifts

Vergil has experienced an unexpected revival lately. Indeed, his famous «beware of Greeks bearing gifts» [Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes] has been quoted or paraphrased frequently in the international media coverage of the Greek sovereign debt crisis – mostly to underline how poisoned, alas, the gift was. But is it? The specific reasons that prompted the crisis are well-known and need no further analysis here.

The Greek crisis, however, is not comparable to Ireland’s – nor is it comparable to the previous Greek mini-crisis of 2004, when the accounting tricks used by the PASOK government led by Costas Simitis were first unveiled and then quickly swept under the carpet – only to become worse under the ND government led by Kostas Karamanlis. Back then, Greece was arguably not the only euro-zone country to have cheated a bit with Eurostat rules. This time around, while the triggering factor has been the discovery of the real size of the country’s public deficit (in itself no bigger than Ireland’s or the UK’s), the structural weaknesses of the Greek economy have generated a lethal multiplier effect – catching the rest of the Union unprepared and divided.

ISPI: Commentary: Of Greeks and Gifts [PDF] http://www.ispionline.it/sites/default/files/pubblicazioni/commentary_missiroli_4_marzo_2010.pdf

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