Euro or No, Economics of Everyday Greek Life Is Eroding

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The New York Times
Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Euro or No, Economics of Everyday Greek Life Is Eroding

By LIZ ALDERMAN

LEVIDI, Greece — Gregoris Skouros stepped out of the sawed-off cargo container that hard times have forced him to make his home in on an agricultural plain near this tiny village, a two-hour drive south of Athens.

When a visitor raised the issue on everyone’s minds — Greece’s future in the euro zone — Mr. Skouros pursed his lips for a long moment before speaking.

“The problem has now gone beyond whether we remain in the euro or not,” said Mr. Skouros, 54. “The issue is, Can Greece be fixed?”

That question has taken on new urgency as Prime Minister Antonis Samaras makes a renewed effort this week to assemble an austerity budget package that can persuade Greece’s creditors to release a 31.5 billion euro ($41.1 billion) loan installment for the country in October. Even now, auditors from Greece’s troika of international lenders are examining the books in Athens to determine whether the country is on track to repair its tattered finances.

But even if Greece receives yet another lifeline from its European partners, many Greeks have reached their own conclusion: It doesn’t matter. While the economics of everyday life continue to erode, the big concern is that Greece’s leaders are doing almost nothing to root out deep-seated problems that hobble a return to growth, including bureaucracy and bribery.

That dark public mood — also evident in widespread work stoppages in Greece this week and a general strike planned for next week — could make it all the harder for Mr. Samaras’s government to push through Parliament his 11.5 billion euro package of austerity measures. A budget deal could be the country’s last, best hope for getting the next round of international loans it needs to stay part of the euro union.

Recognizing the domestic political challenges facing Mr. Samaras, whose shaky three-party coalition came to power in June after two national elections, European officials seem willing to give him a bit more time. European finance ministers meeting in the Cypriot capital of Nicosia last weekend signaled that willingness, and on Monday so did the German chancellor, Angela Merkel. Given the political alternatives in Greece, European leaders might see little choice but to continue betting on Mr. Samaras.

Right now, in fact, it may be the increasingly impatient Greek public that is the prime minister’s bigger challenge. The popularity of the neo-fascist Golden Dawn party, which won 18 parliamentary seats in the last election, has climbed in recent weeks. The main leftist opposition party, Syriza, is now virtually tied with Mr. Samaras’s New Democracy party in the polls.

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