How history created the perverse incentives that hold back the Greek economy

In a recent post in opendemocracy.net, Aristos Doxiadis presents a thoughtful and detailed look at the historical and structural features of the Greek economy that make Greek society so ineffective and, at least to people like me, one to be far, far away from. His article deserves thoughtful commentary, which I hope to have time for soon. Meanwhile, as a person who was born in Greece and spent the first 25 years of his life there, I can say with confidence that his observations on the Greek society and economy are on-target. I am really surprised that Doxiadis has chosen to continue living in Greece, given the clarity of his vision about the rottenness that pervades that society. I suppose it is admirable that he is trying to reform it for the better. I am more than a little pessimistic about the prospects of success of any such fundamental reform of a society so diseased.

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This site looks good on Mac OS X and Linux computers. Due to limitations of the way Windows renders online text, the fancy fonts (Adobe Minion Pro for text and Adobe Myriad for headlines, both via typekit.com) appear pixellated on Windows, which forced me to use Windows-only fonts for visitors using Windows operating systems. To see the site in its full elegance, if you use a Windows machine, why not install Ubuntu Linux, side-by-side with Windows, and use the Linux side to browse? It’s safer, too! See http://www.ubuntulinux.org/ for details.