por admin » Lun Jun 20, 2011 9:04 pm
Grecia
El sector privado sufre, pero no un solo empleado publico ha sido despedido
Ninguno de los dos partidos politicos en Grecia tiene el incentivo de aceptar las condiciones del nuevo plan de austeridad por que piensan que estas pueden ser mejoradas si siguen protestando. Ellos piensan que un default por parte de Grecia es un eventos desestabilizador para Europa y para el mundo, por lo que los inversionistas extranjeros van a seguir sosteniendo la deuda de Grecia.
El partido opositor Griego ha adoptado una posicion belica contra el rescate. Las masas protestan diariamente en el centro de Atenas, y llaman a la EU y el IMF "endemoniados extranjeros" que "quieren subyugar a la orgullosa gente de Grecia". Los dos grupos saben que su oposicion no tiene consecuencias por que asumen que los acreedores no tienen otra salida que seguir sosteniendo la deuda del pais. Algunos miembros de la izquierda comunista dicen esto abiertamente, es un chantaje publico.
Y el partido en el gobierno, el Pasok Party de Mr. Papandreou ha tratado por todos los medios de evitar una guerra contra los sindicatos, los cuales se oponen fuertemente a la idea de privatizacion o modernizacion. Como resultado, el sector privado ha aceptado la mayoria de las medidas de austeridad y no un solo empleado publico ha sido despedido. Inclusive Mr. Papandreou ha ofrecido su renuncia.
Esta tragedia no es enteramente culpa de los Griegos. El pecado orginal ocurrio hace un anio, cuando Atenas recibio el primer rescate. En ese entonces los acreedores extranjeros deberia haber insistido que el partido de oposicion New Democracy y los sindicatos firmaran un acuerdo junto con el gobierno. Esta omision es catastrofica: en el instante que las medidas de austeridad empezaron a tomar efecto, los que no habian firmado el acuerdo comenzaron a criticarlo, esperando beneficiarse del descontento popular. Al final, solo el partido en el gobierno es el que esta apoyando las medidas de austeridad.
Los lideres europeos podrian haber solucionado este error diciendo que el ultimo paquete de medidas de ayuda, es efectivamente el ultimo y que los terminos del acuerdo no son negociables; y que si la mayoria de los Griegos no lo acepta, estan en su derecho de rechazarlo y buscar sus propias soluciones ellos solos sin la ayuda del exterior.
Pero, esto no es lo que ha ocurrido. Los politicos lideres de EU han evadido las preguntas dificiles y han tratado de encubrir a los Alemanes y los Franceses (bancos que apostaron a la deuda Griega). Ellos tambien han fallado en explicar a los contribuyentes Europeos el costo relativo de dejar que Grecia colapse versus el ayudarlos aunque sean la economia mas enferma de la zona y a la que tendra que apoyar por la decada entera. Y que es lo que estan salvando? una economia cuaya razon de existencia en los ultimos 40 anios ha sido el proveer beneficios a sus empleados publicos (clientela) y a los que estan conectados al gobierno.
En su lugar, el acuerdo de Merkel y Sarkozy sera nada mas que un poco mas de lo mismo - mas rescate, mas deuda, y mas contagio si Grecia colapsa. No se olviden que no habra contagio por que Grecia es solo el 2% del PBI de la zona Euro y sus problemas son distintos a los de Portugal, Irlanda o Italia.
Los politicos Griegos se reunieron con los ministros de Finanzas de la EU en Luxemburg el Lunes para obtener mas detalles del rescate. Pero la politica en Grecia es lo que ultimadamente va a determinar el destino de Grecia.
Mr. Michas is a columnist for protagon.gr and author of "The Black Book of the Greek Soviet Economy," forthcoming from Oxis.
Greece's Bailout Brinkmanship
The private sector suffers, but not a single public servant has been laid off.
By TAKIS MICHAS
Athens
Prime Minister George Papandreou reshuffled the Greek cabinet Friday in a last-ditch effort to gain popular support at home for his government's fiscal austerity and privatization plans. The same day, the main creditor nations of Germany and France agreed to the rough terms of a much-needed €120 billion ($172 billion) fiscal bailout for the country. Yet the opposition parties in Athens may still reject the deal.
No Greek political party or public-sector union has any incentive to agree to the terms of any European Union and International Monetary Fund rescue package because they believe the terms can be improved as long as they keep protesting. The key assumption is that a Greek default would destabilize the eurozone economies and possibly the global economy, too—so foreign debtors will likely continue to fund the country's ballooning public debt.
Thus the opposition New Democracy Party's leader, Antonis Samaras, has adopted a bellicose position against the bailout. The crowds protesting daily in the center of Athens have followed suit, calling the EU and IMF plan an act by "evil foreigners" to "subjugate the proud Greek people." Both groups know their rejectionism carries no cost since they assume foreign creditors have no choice but to continue to fund the country. Some parties of the left, like the communist members of Syriza, articulate this blackmail openly.
Nor has the ruling Pasok Party's Mr. Papandreou exerted strong political leadership. He has been extremely reluctant to risk a clash with public unions, which are strongly opposed to any idea of privatization or modernization. As a result, the private sector has taken much of the austerity pain and not a single public servant has been laid off. In the face of swelling street protests last week in Athens, Mr. Papandreou offered to resign.
This muddle isn't entirely Greece's fault. The original sin took place a year ago, when Athens received its first bailout. At that time, foreign creditors should have insisted that the opposition New Democracy party and the public unions sign the agreement in addition to the government. This omission was catastrophic: As soon as the austerity measures started to take effect, those who hadn't signed the deal felt free to criticize it, hoping to benefit from the unavoidable popular discontent. In the end, a clutch of ruling Pasok Party parliamentarians and Mr. Papandreou were the only people left supporting the deal.
European political leaders could have fixed this error by stating that this latest package is the last bailout plan that Greece is going to get; that the terms are nonnegotiable; and that if the majority of the Greek population feels that the terms of the plan are exploitative, they have every right to reject it and to try to deal with the debt problem themselves without expecting help or interference from abroad.
That's not what happened. EU political leaders have instead evaded the tough questions and tried to cover for the French and German banks that took bad bets on Greece. They have also failed to explain to European taxpayers the relative cost of letting Greece default versus propping up one of the sickest economies in the world for the next decade. And what are they propping up? An economy whose major reason for existence for the last 40 years has been to provide benefits to its public-sector clientele and to those that had "diasyndesis," or connections to the state.
Instead, the deal worked out by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy late last week will likely lead to more of the same—more bailouts, more debt, and more talk about fear of "contagion" if Greece defaults. Never mind that contagion is an unlikely outcome: Greece accounts for a mere 2% of the eurozone's GDP and its problems are distinct from those of Ireland or Portugal.
Politicians from Greece met with EU finance ministers in Luxembourg Monday to hash out more of the bailout's details. But it's the politics back home that will ultimately determine the fate of Greece.
Mr. Michas is a columnist for protagon.gr and author of "The Black Book of the Greek Soviet Economy," forthcoming from Oxis.