Greece braces for "violent modernization"

[ZeitgeistObserver]

Greece braces for "violent modernization"

Noah Barkin and George Georgiopoulos
ATHENS
Mon May 3, 2010 9:08am EDT


Sun, May 2 2010ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece reacted with a mix of resignation and outrage on Monday to a painful new austerity package from the government that newspaper editorials said would force a long-delayed "violent modernization" on the country.

"The time to pay the bill has come, the time of responsibility for all of us tackling this crisis must become the big opportunity to modernize our public life, even if we have to bleed," said financial daily Kerdos.

Prime Minister George Papandreou's government unveiled the plan to overhaul Greece's debt-ridden economy on Sunday after talks with officials from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European Union (EU).

It foresees a massive fiscal adjustment driven primarily by cuts in the country's bloated public sector, which makes up roughly a third of the workforce.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6421DF20100503

[melm00se]

1. can a country

survive with 25% of the workforce being employed in the public sector?

[ZeitgeistObserver]

2. Apparently not.

There are too many civil servants - police, military, bureaucrats, and since they get paid for 14 months rather than 12 it's costing Greece a fortune.

Add to that the fact that few people pay taxes, and it guarantees a crash.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/02/world/europe/02evasion.html?th&emc=th

However, it isn't going to be pretty.