Readers react: living through the Greek financial crisis

Four commenters living and working in Greece and an ex-pat living in the UK give their reaction to the country's economic crisis

Our readers give their take on life in Greece in an economic crisis. Photograph: Kostas Tsironis/AP

Five of our regular commenters give us their reaction to Aditya Chakrabortty's piece on panic hitting the Greek banking system and answer some of the most important questions for those living and working in Greece during the financial meltdown:

• What are people in Greece doing with their cash?
• What will happen to their daily lives if banks go bust?
• Do Greeks still like the Euro?

But perhaps most importantly, they offer their views on what the government's austerity measures might mean and what the future for Greece and its people could be. Leave your thoughts and answers to these questions in the comments below.

gpap

Greece is not Argentina. Even in the event of default, banks will not go bust as they'll be recapitalised by the European Central Bank and the Bank of Greece.

No political party advocates going back to the drachma and at the moment there is no such movement. This would cause an unprecedented decline in living standards and would solve no underlying problems. Also, our debt would still be denominated in Euros, and so it would become increasingly difficult to service as the drachma depreciates.

Economic reform is a much better way of becoming more competitive. The Greek economy is still by far the strongest in south eastern Europe and has a lot of potential for growth. Renewable energy, shipping and tourism are sectors in which our country has significant competitive advantages. Also, contrary to populist stereotypes, all evidence suggests that the Greek people are in fact among the hardest working in Europe.

So, if this crisis motivates us to modernise our state, to deal with corruption, to curtail flagrant tax evasion among the self-employed and the rich, to avoid overspending and to further develop our economic strengths, then in the long term it will prove to have been a blessing in disguise.

kizbot

Things are calmer here in Athens recently. But life is still depressing. Athens is like a ghost town now. There are no food shortages, though, and if people are bartering, it's not in Athens.

No one wants the drachma back, because as hard as it is now, life would be impossible with a worthless currency. None of my friends have taken savings out of banks because they don't have any. But everyone knows that there has been a run on the banks and this has added to the precariousness of the situation here.

I'm not sure that anyone believes there is going to be some sudden massive sea change in Greece in the very near future. Most people do want reforms, especially of the political and justice systems. But there is still a basic mistrust of government and changing this culture of mistrust will take a long time. It is also going to be very painful for ordinary Greeks who have to bear the burden of austerity measures and indirect taxes. There needs to be some sign of hope for Greece and I fear that if it isn't forthcoming soon we will see more protests again this winter.

And the Greeks are right. The IMF can't wring every drop of blood from the Greek people, strangle the economy, and expect this to work as a policy.

 

sonoran

The most obvious obstacle to Greek economic recovery is lack of funds. The vast majority of the loans being handed over to the country is going to pay off debt accumulated so very little is entering the real economy in any form and certainly not in the form of investment and training.

The problem is that those politicians that help create and maintain the current economic mess are exactly the same ones who now offer themselves up as the nation's saviours. The PASOK leadership, Papandreou, Venizelos, Pangalos et al all took an active role in building a political empire that was based on patron-client relations, crony capitalism and pork barrel politics. So expecting people with a mindset cemented by decades of such practices to adapt to the new political and economic realities is painful to watch. 

One of the reasons Papandreou's credibility is rock bottom domestically is because he tried the more traditional methods (no job cuts, promises of more civil service positions and investment programs) during his first year of power and then was forced to renege on almost all his policies when the troika (IMF, ECB and EU Commission) imposed their will.

Since then the government as first said it would accept any more austerity measures and then caved in on several occasions, so severely damaging its credibility in the eyes of Greek voters. In the wake of so many policy U-turns popular anger is growing with over a hundred attacks verbal and otherwise on MPs in recent months.

kindersurprise

I'm not sure what the future holds, but I believe the heavy scent of denial fills the air at present. Why do I say people are in denial? Well, for now, the somewhat directionless "Indignants" have filtered away from Syntagma Square. "Surely the revolution can wait until I'm back from Santorini?" It seems nothing gets in the way of holidays, not even the country being all but bankrupt.

As for the money situation, I have heard of people transferring money out of the country, but not gigantic sums. My salary has reduced due to the backdated tax hikes, which is frustrating, especially since the cost of living is rising. Try finding a cafe in England that charges 7 Euros for a coffee?

As for the bigger picture, the Greek government seems to talk a lot, but I fear that's all they do. Papandreou came to power nearly two years ago when everyone already knew tough times were ahead.

One thing he could have done is to make it easier for people to start their own businesses. At the moment this is almost impossible to do. It would have been a wise move seeing as it was inevitable thousands of people were set to lose their positions as civil servants, but even a change that simple and useful hasn't been made.

In Greece it seems that there is definitely a "whatever flies" attitude. As long as an individual, his/her family and friends are ok, then nothing else is important. It seems that before there can be any real progress, a reality check is needed and attitudes need to change, but when and if that will ever happen, who can say. Until then, expect more of the same.

 

Artemis67

August being the time of the year most Greeks take their annual leave, and a very hot month to boot, right now Greece seems to be in a state of suspension (or should I say, suspended animation?). There seems to be a widespread sense of news fatigue and protest fatigue.

Right now, in Athens at least, the visible signs of the austerity measures and their overall impact on spending and attitude are shorter holidays, empty bars and cafes and a proliferation of 'closing down' signs on shop windows. I think we're still a long way from a revival of the barter economy, in cities at least, and I've yet to meet anyone seriously in favour of going back to the drachma: not only would it complicate imports and exports, as well as tourism, it'd also be a costly affair for businesses, as the conversion from drachma to Euro was. Besides, those of us who grew up with the drachma are aware that a Euro-less Greece would be at the complete mercy of inflation, which is the last thing we need in a country that's already disproportionately expensive with relation to average wages.

The Greek government's plans have indeed the potential to offer real transformation for Greece and Greeks – but think Brothers Grimm tales of bleakness with the "and they lived happily ever after" part indefinitely on hold. It's not just that the government's measures are designed to benefit Greece's big lenders (see the IMF & co.) at the huge expense of the middle and working classes, which is why so many people are despairing. What makes an already dire situation worse is that these measures are not accompanied by any thought-out, viable effort to eradicate the banes of Greek society – nepotism, corruption, and, despite praiseworthy exceptions, a general tendency towards slipshod work practices. The government has promised crisp carrots and delivered nothing but sharp sticks – the kind of magic wands likely to turn even meek people into furies.

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