While the financial facts presented from greece to the eurozone before acceptance were definately massaged, that was not criminal-level fraud. Other countries h

While the financial facts presented from greece to the eurozone before acceptance were definately massaged, that was not criminal-level fraud. Other countries had massaged their financial data as well (hint: Italy) to fit into the euro criteria (which, to be frank were quite strict). Things took the wrong turn in greece AFTER acceptance to the EU: the inflow of relatively cheap euros led to a construction boom (yes, a construction boom in a country which has the highest home-ownership in europe, but negligible industry) and massive imports of foreign goods (Not just from germany, in fact german imports were rather low). Then corruption started settling in, in a state that always looked the other way and hid everything under an (apparently huge) rug, and made no attempt to modernize and grow the economy. As for people trying to make reforms in greece, see this article from 2007: http://www.athensnews.gr/old_issue/13235/16152 http://www.athensnews.gr/old_issue/13235/16152