Greece is sold off and sold out
Greece's public assets, including ports and airports, went at discount prices to predatory buyers who will deprive the state of much - need
Kadritzke, Niels
http://mondediplo.com/2016/07/04greecesoldout
Date Written: 2016-07-01
Publisher: Le Monde Diplomatique
Year Published: 2016
Resource Type: Article
Cx Number: CX21926
A recent study has concluded that privatisation in Europe has undermined wage structures, made working conditions worse and increased income inequality; nowhere is this exemplified more than in Greece.
Abstract:
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Excerpt:
Greece is a textbook case. During the debt crisis the country's creditors forced it to sell or lease as many public and semi-public companies as possible, with the sole aim of paying off the government debt. This selling off of public assets is the most absurd part of the 'rescue programme' imposed by the troika that has kept the Greek economy in recession for seven years. Forcing a bankrupt state to privatise public companies in the midst of a crisis always means selling them at discount prices, say the authors of the TNI study. Even the 'family silver' can't be sold off at a fair price during a deep recession; selling it is an act of embezzlement.
