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by webscaleizfun 3518 days ago
With austerity feeding on itself as it has been for many years in Greece, the rental market seems to have become flooded with properties. If your citizens have no money, and your economy is shrinking in the double digits every year for years on end, how does anyone do anything economically?
1 comments

I should probably reply on the overall issue.

The economic troubles of Greece have been similar to those of the eastern european countries. The issue with Greece is that the politicians did not take tough measures early in the crisis and the recovery is too far ahead.

While other countries reduced their headcount in the public sector, in Greece the headcount remains much the same. I blame the politicians, though the political party that manages to win, is the one that offers not to reduce the public sector headcount.

This inability of the politicians is also reflected in the enforcement of the smoking ban. While in public transport there is no smoking, in most restaurants, cafes and elsewhere, the ban is not enforced. Even in the Greek parliament there is smoking, and even the Minister of Health is regularly seen smoking. See https://www.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/52dif3/the_sad_real... and weep.

Frankly, investors should use the smoking issue in Greece as an indicator whether the country is actually recovering. As long as the smoking ban is not enforced, the recovery is not happening.