Thursday, July 16, 2015

Greece shows the need for creating better European politicians and technocrats



Painting by Aafke Steenhuis
The failure to solve Greece’s debt problems over the past five years, notwithstanding and/or due to the intervention of the Troika, shows the failure of European politicians and technocrats, IMF management and Greek governments to do a proper job. They were responsible for the problems Tsipras had to face when he began his job six months ago.
The support Tsipras now has received from the Greek parliament to carry out a deal he himself does not believe in, is yet another step in an ongoing crisis that seems to have no end.
Moreover, the way European politicians and technocrats have handled and are still handling the Greek debt crisis has created disunity, cynicism and frustration among many people in Greece and Europe, rather than the unity and solidarity European authorities pretend to foster.
A new hope for a more prosperous and social society in Greece and Europe is urgently needed. For that to happen, we need to create more capable and visionary politicians and technocrats especially among the leaders. A number of things need to be done:

  1. a better training of economists and technocrats
  2. a better deal for Greece (that is, a viable road to solving its debt and growth problems)
  3. a better formula for creating a united, democratic and social Europe (rather than locking Europe in an austerity euro straitjacket).

I will try to address these three issues in next posts. I am aware that there are also politicians and technocrats doing a good job. But many of the political and technocratic leaders in Europe have done a bad job in handling the Greek debt problem. Rather than solving it, they have worsened it.

We have to create hope again in Europe, especially for the young people who cannot find a (proper) job and those who live in poverty and have no chances to improve their lives.

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