This headline out of Greece today, “Greece Agrees on Tax Cuts, Other Stimulus“. If I’m not mistaken, I think I’ve heard this before. In fact I’ve heard it from Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, and from our own government. It promises to make spending cuts too. But, if Greece didn’t live up to its original agreements, then should we expect them to do so in the future? My vote is no.
Their new plan cuts back on so-called “austerity” (NOT):
[T]he government agreed this week to reduce the value-added tax on restaurants and farming-supply products and to support low-income pensioners by reversing some recently adopted cutbacks. Other moves include reducing the public sector through retirement plans, rather than layoffs, gradually increasing the tax-free threshold to European averages and extending the payment of unemployment benefits by a year.
“The general aim is for no more reductions to salaries and pensions and no more additional taxes,” it said.
It gets even worse. The new finance minister, Vasilios Rapanos, is in the hospital for abdominal pain which maybe because he bit off more than he could chew. Also, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, had eye surgery and is recovering. Maybe that will cure his lack of vision.
