Editorial: Purse

The government’s economic policy was based on two political axes. One was an alignment with the demands of creditors, and the other was over-taxation.

The aim was political: to open the state’s purse at some point and to distribute money to various social categories of citizens that the government believes can support it electorally.

That economic programme, which is a blast from the past, was described by the prime minister in parliament as a “Fourth Memorandum”.

He was so self-satisfied by that turn of phrase that he ironically told the opposition that, “You will vote ‘yes’ on everything.”

Undoubtedly, this country’s citizens have shouldered an extremely weighty burden during the eight-year crisis, four of them with a SYRIZA-Independent Greeks government. Citizens should undoubtedly be supported, but not in a manner that will not undermine their enormous efforts, nor in a way that will blow everything out of the water.

The ever mounting concerns that one is beginning to see in Brussels demonstrate that the government is moving in an ominous direction.

Those in power appear prepared once again to play their last card, as usual without calculating the dangers and cost.

One would expect greater prudence from a government that in the midst of the crisis signed a new bailout memorandum in order to pull the country away from the edge of the abyss. One would expect greater respect for the sacrifices of the Greek people, and less dedication to the purse.