tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5882645467378797266.post6264599804921115833..comments2023-07-17T11:55:51.363+02:00Comments on ObservingGreece: Griechenland - einmal anders betrachtetkleinguthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12491174042954678023noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5882645467378797266.post-84715826871895709072013-04-09T11:47:37.051+02:002013-04-09T11:47:37.051+02:00I often think this psychologising over national ch...I often think this psychologising over national characteristics gets nobody anywhere. "Greeks have an inferiority complex", "Germans are terrified of inflation", "Protestant Work Ethic". "Cypriots are money-launderers".<br /><br />I think it's more fruitful to look, as the last sentence does "unfortunately also an Elite that always thought, the state was there for them, and not the other way round" at the attitude to the state.<br /><br />In the Greek case (and they are by no means unusual in this, it's a pattern right across the balkans, as far as I can see, and even more pronounced as one goes eastwards into Ukraine and Russia), the state is viewed sceptically. They have every reason to be sceptical. But it's a vicious circle. It can only be improved by improving the quality of the service the state provides its citizens. That's a long, long road.<br /><br />What maybe is unusual, in Greece, is the extremely sceptical attitude towards pretty basic building blocks of modern capitalism like functioning competition in product markets, encouraging foreign investment.<br /><br />I'm curious about how the developing crisis in cyprus is being reported in the greek media. Because Cyprus is both more capitalist (in terms of financial services) and more communist (the last AKEL government. A tax haven partly run by doctrinaire communists!)<br /><br />At the same time, Cyprus has some strengths that Greece maybe doesn't. The public administration is relatively good, for example. The political elite, though, are if anything even worse than the greek one.<br /><br />They're still arguing about why the central bank should release the names of people who removed money from the banks in the previous months. What a ridiculous thing to have an argument about. The Cyprus Mail is pretty glum about the new Anastasiades Administration, which it did in fact support in the election.<br /><br />http://www.cyprus-mail.com/our-view/our-view-anastasiades-government-has-dashed-hopes-new-start/20130407<br /><br />Richard Bourkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15510809612151756954noreply@blogger.com