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> The reforms are the only long term solution. They're reforms like, maybe Greeks should retire at the same age that other people in Europe do. What's the reti
by tacone 11y ago
> The reforms are the only long term solution. They're reforms like, maybe Greeks should retire at the same age that other people in Europe do.
What's the retirement age of the other people in Europe, excuse me?
62 like in Germany? 67+ like in Italy?
> Greece is hosed because, as the article points out, it is an incredibly screwed up and corrupt country.
Japan is often ranked as the most corrupted country in the world, but still is going fine. It resisted many crises, and it's one of the most powerful economies in the world. You may guess that corruption is not part of the equation then. Isn't USA corrupted? Isn't China? The whole idea that economies fall down because of corruption is non-sense. As long as money stealed by corrupted people stays in the country the economy does not suffer that much. Corruption issue is about social justice more than everything else.
- westiseast 11y agoI think you're looking at corruption in a one dimensional way. Corruption generally acts as a tax on the economy, a drag factor. Most countries experience corruption, but mitigate it with dynamic economies, productive work forces, abundant natural resources or whatever. Greece hasn't really mitigated corruption, and has compounded it with a range of other problems. Corruption is prt of the Greek problem, not the sum of it.
- visarga 11y agoMaybe they could put some islands up for sale? They have tons of them. That kind of restructuring would make it easier to maintain their living standards.
- rosser 11y agoJapan is often ranked as the most corrupted country in the world... [Citation needed] I searched for "most corrupt countries" and pulled up the first dozen-odd resulting pages. Not one of them mentioned Japan.
- EliRivers 11y agoI certainly don't think of Japan as corrupt in the more common way, but in terms of being institutionally compromised, the Japanese government is effectively in the business of maintaining and giving money to the institutionally corrupt construction industry, permanently and forever, no matter how unnecessary and unwanted the construction is. They have got some outstandingly unnecessary and unwanted construction programmes. Certainly by no means one of the most corrupt, though.