From: gd8f@kelvin.seas.Virginia.EDU (Gregory  Dandulakis)
Subject: Let's see the things with their real face. (An attempt).
Organization: University of Virginia
Date: Thu, 9 Apr 1992 08:54:25 GMT


Let me say just two words on these interestingly raised issues:


In article <1992Apr8.192144@imhfhp16.epfl.ch> gavrila@imhfhp16.epfl.ch (GAVRILAKIS Spyros IMHEF DME EPFL) writes:
>
>
>
>I have never been able to fathom why fellow greeks are so obsessed with
>comparisons between Greece and Turkey. Why if Greece produces more high
>tech tricycles or has more cinemas per cubic foot of sea is a better country?
>Anyhow, whether Greece does better than Turkey is not an issue at all,
>but that Greece is now the poorest EEC country - and probably being left


This, per se, is not that bad. Someone should be the last in this club
of relatively reach nations.

The bad thing is to accept this as a fact which discourages
your efforts for serious and healthy competition with the more advanced.

I'm afraid that the continued reiteration about our supposedly "unjustified" 
and "fatal" last position in EEC creates a sense of hopelessness and even 
panic.

And this in term "freezes" our potential, decisions and vigorous work.

In my opinion, all this is just trash from the Greek politicians.
Greece is potent and is transforming itself smoothly.


>farther behind and possibly eventually out - is a dead serious matter.
                                        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Absolutely agreed.


>I would accept any measurement on the "niceness" (even affected) of the
>population as the real worth of the country in the comparisons, as all Balkan
>countries are not economically so advanced.
>
>I have been watching the news on Greece for a number of years and I cannot
>recall any good news from Greece over the past 5 (forget about basket, Wilson or
>Popovich are not Greek names. Also it is not a meaningful measure.)


I don't know how young you are, but the bad news about the economy in
Greece has started coming out since 1973. Yes, since then all the economic
indicators started breaking concave, later downward and finally more 
or less flat. The reason? Simple: The two oil crisis (1973, 1978).
The Greek economy found itself with low to medium technological level
industries to have to struggle their reforming from energy and cheap
labor driven to that of technologically ones. But our
independently revamping ability was very limited. It was at that time
when industries like textiles, cement, paper, mining (compare with what
Turkey is producing today...) were asking for more cash to finance their
unsuccessfull restructuring. Simply Greece could not go back.
The economists say that Greece desperately needed to move her techno-
logical template one step forward. To produce products which were based
on a good education level, on more efficient public domain, on better
knowledge of the international economic niches and marketing and distri-
bution practices, on better research etc etc.

Simultaneousely we had to absorb the huge waves of entering the EEC.
Half of our domestic agricultural and industrial products lost their
survival abilities. Just check the balances of imports-exports on
these things with EEC before and after 1981 (year of Greece's entry).
You will see abrupt drops and gains. These effects were only transient
and the EEC net influx of cash was partially a compensation for
these changes. And all these things happened when we were forced to
spend the depressing ~7% of our GNP for defence (the second largest
in the west after the US, still the largest in *exported* cash).

Yet the Greek economy is continousely changing faces. Many industries
die but many newcomers bring fresh products and services in the markets.
Our universities are better linked with the outer world now that 10
years ago. Our managers sell to the specialty foreign markets better.
Our banks are moving forward steadily. Our tourism is becoming increasingly
more eclectic. And the countryside has finally managed to stop the hemor-
rage toward the cities, an important step toward improving gradually
the quality of life in the cities, which is by itself a prerequisite
for the attraction of foreign higher technologically industries and
services too.The total balance shows a stagnation, but this doesn't
say anything about the inner movements and currents of the economy.
These changes have been accompanied by increase in our foreign debt.
We need capital to finance all these changes, so we take it. Of course
the danger of overborrowing is always present and this seems to have
been addressed seriousely lately (may be a little bit too seriousely :-)).


>In all this gloom - with no end in sight - there is one measure that Greeks
>can take some scraps of comfort from : this is emigration.
>Greece has been a member of the EEC since 1980 but from 1988 there has been
>complete freedom of movement of Greek nationals - meaning that they can seek
>work and settle in any of the other (then) 9 countries. To the surprise of the
>commision hardly anyone from the southern EEC countries (meaning Greece and
>Southern-Italy) has moved. It was originaly hoped that the poorer southerners
>will fullfil the immigrand needs of the northern countries - a thing that did
>not happened. ( I do not know what the situation is with those leaving for


This was *never* hoped :-) Since 1980 there were more Greek nationals
returning home than leaving for abroad. This trend had started showing
itself since 1973, the oil crisis, which made the immigration lands
not that favorable coupled with the much improved conditions back at home.
The EEC technocrats knew that when they permited us to enter the community.


>higher education abroad.) So it seems that Greeks are now content in their homeand I was told as much by several people when visiting last summer.
>
>The following is for bigots only DO NOT READ : It seems that Germany, France,
>Italy and even Greece has a Turkish illegal-alien problem. Not to mention
>those seeking political asylum in their thousands.
>You should not have read this last bit.
>
>Yrs, Spyros, Gav. EPFL Switzerland.
>~


I would like to close this rather long essay with some remarks:

1. Not to take the domestic Greek polititians too seriousely.
   It seems that by scaring the voters they believe that they help their case.

2. We really need to improve our reliability about our decisions toward 
   the EEC.

3. The comparisons with a neighboring country which have been seen here
   are not relevant. We function in different terms in the
   world markets. We have different technological templates. So our eyes
   should be looking toward our real competitors not the imaginary ones.

4. The most ambitious and creative of our people should be looking
   an/or working abroad all over the world, but always keeping in mind
   the big opportunities (and maybe needs) which Greece can offer to (and ask 
   from) them.


Gregory Dandulakis
Newsgroups: soc.culture.greek