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Featherbedding kai Ligotero Kratos
Oi parouses sinthikes parousiazoun mia katapliktiki efkeria gia kati pou eprepe na eihe ginei dekaeties prin: simantika ligotero kratos. To government spending (including transfer payments) stin Ellada san pososto tou GDP einai pano apo 40%. Afto einai ligotero apo tin Irlandia i’ tin Ispania, alla parapano apo tin Ollandia i’ tin Portogalia, kai poli parapano apo tin Italia, tin Afstria, tin Ouggaria, tin Dania kai ti Gallia. To terastio megethos tou Ellinikou kratous, anti na diefkolini kai na proothei tin idiotiki protovoulia, diskolevei tis ependiseis me tin tromeri grafeiokratia tou. Oloi xeroume mia apo tis vasikes aities diogkosis tou Ellinikou kratous: oi psifothirikes kai mi anagkaies proslipseis. Einai afto pou sta oikonomika leme “featherbedding”, diladi excessive hiring of low productivity workers. Oloi aftoi oi ipalloiloi kai i ipervoliki grafeiokrateia, pou stohevei stin apolithosi tis kratikis exousias, einai to megalitero trohopedi anaptixis.
Ta teleftaia eikositessera hronia pou zo stin Ameriki, zitima an eho paei 5-6 fores se dimosia ipiresia. Ta kalokaira omos, opote kateveno stin Ellada, halao tis diakopes mou stis dimosies ipiresies. Gia ena periergo logo, to Dimosio thelei na se vlepei aftoprosopos. Se antithesi me tin Ameriki, einai adinati i diekpereosi ipotheseon meso tilefonou i’ internet. Prepei na emfanisteis aftoprosopos kai na parakaleseis i’ na ladoseis. Kai otan kati paei na fteiaxei, kapou tha kollisei. P.h. to kalokairi apofasisa na ananeoso to diploma mou odigisis apo paleou, hirografou, tipou se Evropa’i’kou. Mia apo tis formes pou mou dosane zitouse na grapso to onoma mou sta Agglika. To egrapsa me ton idio tropo pou to grafo apo tote pou efiga apo tin Ellada. Kai veveos to Ipourgeio Sigkinonion to egrapse me allo tropo pou den antistihei sto diavatirio mou…
Stin Ameriki se empistevontai mehris apodeixeos tou enantion. Stin Ellada den se empistevontai mehri na apodikseis oti prepei na se empistevontai. Gia na to apodekseis prepei na mazeveis ena terastio arithmo eggrafon kathe fora. Me alla logia, i Ameriki einai mia anoikti organosi, eno i Ellada einai mia kleisti organosi. Se ena arthro pou egrapsa me ton Duncan Holhausen me titlo “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Agent Behavior and Efficiency in Open and Closed Organizations“, deiksame oti oi kleistes organoseis einai anapotelesmatikes gia ton exis logo: Kai oi dio tipoi organosis prepei na kanoune monitor tous paragontes tous oste na apofigoun ex post atasthaleies. Oi kleistes organoseis prepei epiprosthetos na spataleisoun porous sto na eleghoun tous ipopsifious paragontes kai ex ante. Me afto tor tropo mporei na periorizoun tin eisodo se kakous tipous paragonton, alla afto den simainei oti afou proslifthoun den allazei o tipos tous. Sinepos, oi arhikoi poroi eleghou ton paragonton einai anapotelesmatikoi.
Enai poli lipiro kathe fora pou erhomai stin Ellada na vlepo tin idiotiki protovoulia na prospathei na dimiourgisei, kai to Dimosio na apotelei trohopedi, mono kai mono gia tin aftosintirisi tou.
IMF or European Subordination
And the answer, in my opinion, is IMF. Either way it is going to be costly in terms of market sentiment against Greece and higher risk premia. But the political costs of getting a loan directly from France or Germany are not only subordination to that country, in addition, they will likely include commitments from Greece to purchase overpriced military equipment from them and show them preferential treatment in procurement. Simon Johnson of MIT makes a different point that “by approaching the IMF, Greece will get a better deal from the European Union” (read his article on The Huffington Post).
May 7, 2010 update: read the following related article in Kathimerini (in Greek).
May 10, 2010 update: read the following related article in Ethnos (in Greek).
Moral Hazard
Moral Hazard in economics refers to a situation in which economic agents undertake private actions with stochastic effects on final outcomes. Notice that I have highlighted “private” and “stochastic”. Corruption is an example of moral hazard. Public officials can undertake actions which are not observable by the public or they are not verifiable to the courts. The fact that they are not deterministic (in other words because the public cannot tell if unfavorable events are due to inaduequate actions by public officials or due to random, probabilistic events) can make it virtually impossible to make a case against these agents. The actions of these agents can provide private benefits to them. Has moral hazard and the associated corruption played a significant role in shaping up Greece’s economic woes?
Idiot
To xerete oti i Aggliki lexi “idiot” (diladi “ilithios”) proerhetai apo tin Elliniki lexi “idiotis”? Kai afto dioti idiotis stin arhaia Ellada itan aftos pou den asholeito me ta koina. Sinepos, i lexi idiotis ehei ipotimitiki simasia.
Pos tha apokalousate aftous oi opoioi erhontousan stin Elliniki exousia apo genneseos tou Ellinikou kratous me monadiko skopo to idiotiko ofelos kai ohi to koinoniko? Pos tha apokalousate aftous oi opoioi anelamvanan tin exousia me stoho tin dimiourgia prosopikis periousias meso ipertimologiseon dimosion promithion kai ergon? Prokeitai i’ den prokeitai gia “ilithious”?
Pou ftasame me aftous tous “ilithious” pou mas kivernousan? Sto na proskaloume pali tous gnostous xenous sotires.
Simera pou grafo afta, itan se ola ta diethni nea to kolpo ton “debt swaps” meso Goldman Sachs gia tin metahronolgisi tou Ellinikou hreous. Kittaxte NY Times, WSJ and Baseline Scenario.
Epeidi ton telefteo kairo mou dimiourgithike ena sinesthima thlipsis kai apithmenis aidias, apofasisa na xekiniso afto to blog.
myEllada 