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‘Greece becoming third world country – economically and democratically’
As Greece struggles to pay back overwhelming amounts of bailout loans, journalist and documentary maker Aris Chatzistefanou says the country is facing an even bigger issue.
“When you have huge debt like the one that Greece and other countries in the European periphery are facing, you start losing levels of democracy and I’m afraid that has happened,” he told RT.
Chatzistefanou spoke to RT about Wednesday’s protests and the wider picture regarding Greece’s ongoing economic woes.
RT: Workers in Greece are steadfast in trying to force the government to get rid of the bailout deal, but is there any other way to help the economy?
Aris Chatzistefanou: Many progressive economists have said for the last two or three years that these austerity measures will create not only social genocide in Greece, but they will destroy the infrastructure of the economy. And now we are talking about debt that is still increasing after three austerity packages. And if everything goes as planned, we will have a debt of 175 per cent of GDP. Don’t forget that before the IMF and the troika intervention in Greece, we had a debt of 115 per cent. So it’s exactly these austerity measures that create the problem.
There are many alternative plans for example, default, because everyone knows that right now it’s impossible to repay a huge debt like that – even if we accept that it’s legal. And many people say that it’s not legal. That it’s illegal. Many other economists have spoken about exiting the eurozone. Even Paul Krugman has characterized the eurozone as a straightjacket for Greece which created this huge debt to the economy.
more:
http://rm/op-edge/greece-protest-aus…argas-164/
2013-02-20 11:53:43
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