The most indebted, most fiscally irresponsible government
in Europe, Greece has been hugging international news recently because of its huge public debt, and the huge bail out money given by many governments to it. This useful chart was sent by a friend, Luz. I think she got this from The Economist, am not sure.
Three years ago, Greece's debt/GDP ratio was already above 150 percent. No sensible economy would dare touch that zone unless the bulk of such debt are domestic, like Japan's.
Regional economic community (EC) and blocs like the ASEAN EC
(AEC) can learn lessons from the case of Greece and the European EC (EEC) so that such mistakes should
not be imitated and repeated. Subsidizing a spend-spend-spend, borrow-borrow-borrow economy to protect the
regional currency and stability of the whole bloc creates huge moral hazards (dependency, entitlement mentality, related) problems.
(Note: I copied that link and chart this morning. When I checked it tonight, it says "404.Page not found", so Bloomberg took it down, for some reason/s)
Why is Greece in this deep trouble"
An article from BBC has a good explanation:
Greece was living beyond its means even before it joined
the euro. After it adopted the single currency, public spending soared. Public sector wages, for example, rose 50% between 1999
and 2007 - far faster than in most other eurozone countries. The government
also ran up big debts paying for the 2004 Athens Olympics.
And while money flowed out of the government's coffers,
its income was hit by widespread tax evasion. So, after years of overspending,
its budget deficit - the difference between spending and income - spiralled out
of control.
A populist, anti-austerity, socialist-leaning government won last month led by new PM Alexis Tsipras. He talked tough, suggesting that he would call for huge discounts in paying the public debt. But the Finance Ministers of Germany, France, other huge EU lenders countered, "Greece must pay."
With some twist, PM Tsipras agrees to honoring its debt and some spending cuts like "trimming ministerial benefits
like cars and selling one of the prime minister's aircraft." Good move
then,
The main problem here and in many other countries is government over-spending, living
beyond its means, over-subsidies, over-welfarism and populism. For decades.
Huge debt is nothing but accumulated wastes and profligacy. If previous spending financed by debt was productive, then the economy should be able to have a balance if not fiscal surplus, and pay back old debt.
The big question of how to pay that mountain of debt is not so much addressed to the new Greek leadership, but the Greek people themselves. Is it too much to ask for huge public spending cuts, especially in subsidies and pension, if their government does not have the resources to sustain funding them? If they say Yes, then are they prepared to pay more taxes, more regulatory fees, more mandatory contributions, more fines and penalties?
Most likely people will say No, or "Yes but tax only the super rich". But the very rich have many ways to adopt. Like negotiating their way out as they have access to the best law firms, accounting and PR firms. Or they can simply leave the country with their wealth. This already happened in France, when PM Hollande imposed the 75 percent income tax on people who earn 1 million Euro a year or more. Many super rich French businessmen surrendered their French passports and acquired new ones in Switzerland, Belgium, UK, Russia, etc.
A highly welfarist and populist government invites lots of corruption. First, in corrupting the people's values, the culture of state dependency and entitlement thinking. Second. in corrupting politicians, legislators and the bureaucracy's values, that over-taxing other people is ok, it is fine, in the name of fighting inequality and pampering the culture of envy.
Governments should shrink, spending, taxation and bureaucracies. The public must reclaim their bigger role in running their own lives, and the finances to sustain their own lives, their households and communities.
------------
See also:
Fiscal irresponsibility 12: More on US debt default, July 28, 2011
Fiscal irresponsibility 17: Cut Spending and Borrowing, September 19, 2011
Fiscal Irresponsibility 27: PH's P2.6 Trillion 2015 Budget, June 10, 2014
Pork Barrel 10: Bloated Budget, Wasteful Government, June 02, 2014
Pork Barrel 12: Why DAP is Wrong, July 29, 2014
No comments:
Post a Comment