Norbert Walter, the former Chief Economist of Deutsche Bank, argued at the INET Conference in Berlin that a "Marshall Plan" is not the answer to Greece's problems. The answer to Greece's problems is not more funding but, instead, the following:
* Greece needs now a batallion of US anti-corruption specialists
* Greece needs now a large group of German trust agency specialists to get the privatization going
* Greece needs now German engineers to do the real estate catastration in order to have land identified so that Greece can have a tax on real estate (because a real estate tax cannot be evaded...)
* Greece needs Italians to show them how to increase tax efficiency
* Greece needs Spaniards to show them how to get tourism up to international standards
And what exactly are the vote-seeking Greek parties saying about points like the above?
* Greece needs now a batallion of US anti-corruption specialists
* Greece needs now a large group of German trust agency specialists to get the privatization going
* Greece needs now German engineers to do the real estate catastration in order to have land identified so that Greece can have a tax on real estate (because a real estate tax cannot be evaded...)
* Greece needs Italians to show them how to increase tax efficiency
* Greece needs Spaniards to show them how to get tourism up to international standards
And what exactly are the vote-seeking Greek parties saying about points like the above?
I can think of some better places from which to learn
ReplyDeleteTourism - Thailand or Indonesia (Bali)
Tax Efficiency - Singapore or Hong Kong
Anti Corruption - Singapore
Privatisation - New Zealand
You are doing the same as what you accuse the EU Elites of doing - http://klauskastner.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/learn-from-those-who-have-experience.html
Engaging in 19th Century colonialist myths of superiority, by not looking beyond the sick men of Planet Earth -- the EU and USA
CK
I agree with your criticism entirely but those are not my phrases; they were Norbert Walter's at the INET Conference (see link).
ReplyDeleteAll I asked was what the vote-seeking Greek parties would say to this. If they said that they don't need the advice of self-appointed European elites but that they would instead look to countries like Singapore, New Zealand, etc. for advice, I think that would be wonderful.
I can only repeat the wonderful description of the arrogance of self-appointed European elites by Prof. Velasco: "The sociology of knowledge is such that when it comes from countries like Chile, Argentina, Taiwan, etc. it is not worth thinking about".