Greece scapegoats a statistician who only did his job

The Washington Post

By Editorial Board August 4
IN GREECE, the lucrative tourism industry is threatened this summer by millions of oversized jellyfish washing ashore on the nation’s beaches. An even slimier development is the ongoing persecution of the country’s first independent chief statistician, whose tough-minded steps to straighten out Greece’s notoriously fraudulent economic data have been repaid with farcical prosecutions by a judicial system rapidly discrediting itself in the world’s eyes.

Andreas Georgiou, an American-trained economist who spent two decades working at the International Monetary Fund, was hired as Greece’s top statistician in 2010 as the country’s debt crisis was spiraling out of control. His goal was to honestly report economic data that for years had been fudged by politicians and officials seeking to minimize their own fateful fiscal mismanagement.

In Greece, Bailout May Hinge on Pursuing Tycoons

By LIZ ALDERMANFEB. 26, 2015

The New York Times

ATHENS — As he sifted recently through a sheaf of Greek bank accounts held by executives, politicians and other members of the Greek elite, Panagiotis Nikoloudis, the nation’s new anti-corruption czar, was struck by some troubling numbers.

A man who was claiming unemployment benefits and declared zero income on his taxes had more than 300,000 euros, or $336,000, stashed away at his bank. Another, who told the tax authorities that his annual income was just €15,000, turned out to have €1.5 million in various bank accounts.

Misrule of the Few

How the Oligarchs Ruined Greece


By Pavlos Eleftheriadis FROM OUR NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014 ISSUE

The Foreign Affairs

Just a few years ago, Greece came perilously close to defaulting on its debts and exiting the eurozone. Today, thanks to the largest sovereign bailout in history, the country’s economy is showing new signs of life. In exchange for promises that Athens would enact aggressive austerity measures, the so-called troika -- the European Central Bank, the European Commission, and the International Monetary Fund -- provided tens of billions of dollars in emergency loans. From the perspective of many global investors and European officials, those policies have paid off. Excluding a one-off expenditure to recapitalize its banks, Greece’s budget shortfall totaled roughly two percent last year, down from nearly 16 percent in 2009. Last year, the country ran a current account surplus for the first time in over three decades. And this past April, Greece returned to the international debt markets it had been locked out of for four years, issuing $4 billion in five-year government bonds at a relatively low yield -- only 4.95 percent. (Demand exceeded $26 billion.) In August, Moody’s Investors Service upgraded the country’s credit rating by two notches.

Greece’s Rotten Oligarchy

By KOSTAS VAXEVANIS
Published: January 6, 2013
The New York Times
Unfortunately, the bicycle of Greek democracy has long been broken. After the military junta collapsed in 1974, Greece created only a hybrid, diluted form of democracy. You can vote, belong to a party and protest. In essence, however, a small clique exercises all meaningful political power.

Greek prosecutors send Swiss account list to parliament

ATHENS | Thu Dec 27, 2012 2:11pm GMT

(Reuters) - Greek prosecutors sent a list of possible tax cheats to parliament, court sources said, in a case that has highlighted Athens' failure to crack down on the tax evasion that has contributed to the country's financial crisis.

Greece Urged to Get Tough on Tax

The Wall Street Journal

By STELIOS BOURAS And PHILIP PANGALOS

ATHENS—Greece's international creditors have called on the country to do more to tackle tax evasion, particularly among wealthier residents, as Athens scrambles to check up on thousands of taxpayers suspected of having sent money abroad illegally.

Special Report: Greece's triangle of power

A nexus of media, business and politics lies behind the country's crisis, say critics.

 

By Stephen Grey and Dina Kyriakidou

For Greece, Oligarchs Are Obstacle to Recovery

By RACHEL DONADIO and LIZ ALDERMAN

The New York Times

Link: http://goo.gl/nkgwE

ATHENS — A dynamic entrepreneur, Lavrentis Lavrentiadis seemed to represent a promising new era for Greece. He dazzled the country’s traditionally insular business world by spinning together a multibillion-dollar empire just a few years after inheriting a small family firm at 18. Seeking acceptance in elite circles, he gave lavishly to charities and cultivated ties to the leading political parties.