Greek Joy and Woes

We spent two weeks in Greece and many people who have read about the "terrible" Greek situation have asked us how bad it was. There is no doubt that the economy, especially in Athens and on the mainland, is in great trouble. We were in Athens on the eve of a General Strike and saw one of the well-reported marches.

It was a very civil affair and there was no semblance of violence.

We also saw a march in Chania in Crete, but this was a very low key and, seemingly, family event.

The most obvious consequence of the major drop in the economy in Athens was the very large number of closed shops.  Every shop is this arcade in a good area in the centre of Athens had closed.

Outside Athens, the most obvious consequence was the same as in Ireland - large numbers of incomplete and abandoned building development projects.

One can't help feeling that these will remain a blight on the horizon for many years.

We were fortunate to spend most of our time in Crete and the Cycladic Islands. Although afflicted by the same building development stoppage, these did not seem to be suffering from significant unemployment as the primary industries of tourism and agriculture continued apace - the former appeared to be fueled by a major increase in the number of visitors from Russia.

One cannot help feel that the approach being forced on Greece to correct its economy are unlikely to prove beneficial to either creditors or to the country, let alone to the more than 25% of the workforce who are unemployed and look as if they will be out of work for years.  It is worth remembering that massive unemployment usually gives rise to major social unrest.

EU: Greece must cut deeper to get bailout

European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Olli Rehn, left, talks with Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos, at the Eurogroup ministerial meeting at the European Council building in Brussels, Feb. 9, 2012. / AP

BRUSSELS - Just hours after Greece gave in to painful new job and spending cuts, European ministers declared Thursday that Athens didn't go far enough and demanded more within a week in exchange for a euro130 billion ($170 billion) bailout to stave off bankruptcy.