It is argued that when elites are divided, journalism thrives. Well, only if the latter is not part of the problem. As in many other countries around the world, deep pockets in Greece have always nurtured their private lists of MPs and journalists and businesspeople were used to exchange their support with government contracts, once ‘their guys’ are appointed in public office. A simple proof is the fact that no one could ever explain the origins of expenses of individual candidates during pre election periods.

These days, things are quite different. Payrolls have dried out, politicians appear tired and ineffective on the racing track, whilst entrepreneurs are cornered by civil servants, who have already seen their incomes shattered and what’s more, are closely followed by troika executives with a ‘license to kill’.

So, what has been common practice for decades, now leads to handcuffs and public ridicule. What has always been a means of showing oneself around is now evidence of socially not accepted behaviour. Old money, if survived, is laying low and new riches are already slammed by their overstatements (and overspending).

When state money ran out, elites started panicking. They knew the system too well to expect any hope for improvement, especially when current gen of politicians remained in charge. However, astonishing things happened in the last two years, during which a late maturity occurred in the lives of Greeks, albeit in a dramatic way. Firstly, citizens were deprived by most of the ‘fat’ accumulated during the ‘golden deficit years’, secondly, after a decade of inactivity and failure, politicians made way to a technocrat who came in to make things right. Thirdly, international profiteers pardoned a large part of the Greek public debt, bankruptcy was avoided and the CDS proved peanuts -in local terms- despite the painstaking efforts of allegedly gifted economists who kept betting on disaster. Fourthly, EU officials started talking about growth and jobs, while reforms were signed and voted by a smoked Parliament. These structural developments create a series of conditions for a clean start.

However, politicians and the ‘old system’ remain puzzled. The first have proved unworthy and the latter, who had already cashed out much of their wealth in foreign banks, lost the ‘drachmisation’ opportunity and the chance to bring in hard currency to reposition themselves in the country.

Negativity that is still around troubling citizens, who attempt to think ahead, has to do with a general disbelief towards a political and economic system that appears crippled in the post PSI era. The old state-fed and boneless corporatism is unable to lead the country into a new equilibrium, defined by 21st century. New money is urgently needed; the honest, ambitious and efficient type…

Dr. Demetris Kamaras is the Editor of AlYunaniya.com

In a general comment, the Board of Directors of the Institute of International Finance (IIF) said it strongly supports the recent agreements among Greece, Euro Area authorities, and the IMF on a new adjustment and financing program for Greece, including the common understanding of the terms of a voluntary exchange of privately held Greek Government Bonds as presented in the February 21, 2012 statement by the Steering Committee of the Private Creditor-Investor Committee for Greece.

According to the announcement, “the decision to participate in the debt exchange lies exclusively with individual investors. The IIF Board is firmly of the view that a successful completion of the exchange will contribute meaningfully to facilitating the official financing for Greece and help Greece to carry out necessary reforms to set the basis for economic recovery. These are important steps towards resolving the Greek debt crisis, addressing the overall fiscal and sovereign debt problems in the Euro Area, and restoring financial stability, which is essential to foster economic growth and job creation.”