German austerity in Greece

Wise Words: austere and austerity

Austerity comes from a Greek word, austeros, which means "severe" or "strict". My children speak Greek fluently, but the only time they use this word is when they complain about their teachers. In their eyes, an “austere” teacher is one who is no fun — and who is too strict when it comes to marking. These teachers are tight-fisted with their grades.

The EU, and Germany in particular, want the Greek government to be more tight-fisted with their euros. Georgios Papandreou, the Greek prime minister since October 2009, has an austerity plan to reduce the country's public debt, which, according to the EU, now stands at close to 125 per cent of GDP. The plan includes cutting public spending drastically and increasing taxes — mainly on fuel (now at €1.25 a litre) and tobacco (now at €2.90 for a pack of 20 cigarettes).

Even if Papandreou manages to implement his austerity plan, Greece will still be in trouble. It’s not enough for the Greek government to tighten their belts and for Greek public servants to take a cut in salary or pension, or for Greeks to pay more for cigarettes and petrol. What Greece needs is a complete overhaul of its tax system, together with a serious clampdown on tax evasion by the rich. It’s time for the doctors, lawyers and shipowners to stop pocketing the money they should be paying in taxes. They should draw up their own austerity measures and tighten their belts, too. And the belt-tightening should hurt!

If you’re wondering what I thought about the Focus cover that featured Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, desire and beauty, making an obscene gesture (holding up her middle finger), I thought it was below the belt. I bought a copy in Greece — the newsagent commented that the magazine had never been so popular. He usually only sells one copy. He'd sold 30. I took offence at the comment that "only barbarians drink Greek wine". I drink Greek wine all the time. Sometimes, I even buy it in Athens at the new Aldi store — but only when I'm implementing my own German austerity measures.