With Greece mired in a crushing economic crisis with seemingly no way out, a panel at the London School of Economics on Sept. 11 of academics and writers specializing in political science, public policy, math, the economy and society offered some solutions and proposed a long-term vision for the government and society to overcome obstacles. There were four talks by a panel of speakers, which was chaired by LSE Finance Professor Dimitri Vayanos, followed by a Q&A session.
The second part of the discussion, chaired by Nikitas Konstantinidis, a fellow in Political Science and Public Policy at LSE, focused on how Diaspora Greeks could help. The event took place under the auspices of the Hellenic Observatory at the LSE. The first speaker, Pavlos Eleftheriadis. a university lecturer at Mansfield and Oxford, and a lawyer, argued that the crisis can be attributed to the gradual emergence of “extractive” institutions in the mid-1980’s.
While cronyism has been a persistent feature of Greek democracy since the 1860’s, important changes in the mid-1980’s tipped the balance against independent institutions, competitiveness and the rule of law, he said. The result was a closed, protectionist and corrupt political system which stifled entrepreneurship and innovation and controlled the largest news outlets and private TV stations.
Joining the Eurozone exposed this flawed political system and magnified the consequences of the Greek collapse, he added. Eleftheriadis said that way out of the crisis does not require major innovation but to combine economic with political reforms to restore law, fight corruption and enforce accountability. The challenge for Greece is to become a more open and just society and a social market whose economy is truly integrated into the global economy, he concluded.
Apostolos Doxiadis, who spoke about the practice of politics in juxtaposition with political ideology, made the distinction between the politics of principles and ideas, problem-solving, and clientelism. While no political action falls squarely within one of those, he said that the dominant paradigm in Greece is contrarianism and opposition to the Memorandum of Agreement with international lenders, Germany, and immigrants.
Doxiadis, a writer whose graphic novel Logicomix was a best-seller, said it’s easier to say no than yes, since that way the degrees of freedom are higher. On the other hand, the logic of clientelism is protective of the institutions that nurture it but are antithetical to progress. The only way out, he said, is a wider consensus that can only be brought about by a political figure. What Greece needs, he concluded, is a novel, simple, and persuasive vision in which the public believes.
EXIT STRATEGIES
George Prokopakis, a business consultant on organizational and data management, said he thought that Greece’s exit strategy from the crisis has three stages. The first is short-run crisis management, and the main objective is to stay in the Euro, on which he said there is already consensus between politicians and society. The second stage is implementation of structural reforms to enhance functioning of the state and market competition.
More support for reforms is needed from society, Prokopakis said, because it benefits most people. The third stage is growth. This is more long term and, to some extent, a consequence of the others, he said, adding that growth will come mainly from small firms, who must look toward foreign markets. The crisis has already resulted in the loss of 1.2 million jobs, which will take many years to be created again and he said Greece needs at least six months of calm to begin recovery.
Andreas Koutras, an investment banker who has written extensively about Greek debt restructuring, argued that part of Greek society has not realized or refuses to acknowledge the need for structural changes not only in the economy but in society and personal behavior. He said that failure can be attributed to a lack of vision but has been supplanted by saremongering and blackmailing.
Koutras said many citizens refuse to be subjected to austerity measures by corrupt politicians and political parties he said were degenerate and had largely caused the crisis and that Greece needs new parties. He said that the country slowly becoming an almost autistic society that ostracizes dissenting or alternative voices.
Anything that does not conform to a pernicious nationalism and a backward looking Greek Orthodox culture is crushed as anti-Greek, he said. He urged a tolerant and respecting society, believing that prosperity would follow naturally after a civil and cultural capital is created. “Patriots are not only the ones glued in a glorious past but those that strive to make a better future,” he concluded.
The event came about through a decentralized initiative and a second part of the discussion was more organizational. The goals were
- The search for synergies between the various networks and initiatives that have taken shape outside Greece
- Creation of a common platform of understanding and debate on issues of Greek public policy reforms
- Co-ordination of the rich human capital of Greeks in the UK for the common good of Greece
Konstantinidis appeared on behalf of the Greek Public Policy Forum (www.greekpublicpolicyforum.org), Vayanos of the Greek Economists for Reform (www.greekeconomistsforreform.org), and Michael Jacobides, an Associate Professor of Strategic and International Management at London Business School, for Redesign Greece (www.redesigngreece.org) and a
