From Kleptocracy to Bankruptcy

The crisis marks the collapse of a whole model of bogus growth which, as it turned out, was based on kleptocracy, waste, irrationalism, parasitism, lawlessness and impunity. With all this, collapses the tacit social contract between the ruling elite and the lower and middle class strata which provided the base on which to build the model. The crisis also has a European aspect. Greece is not the black sheep in a virtuous European family, like our European peers originally had it. Greece is the weakest link in a not-so-solid chain. In fact, Greece has turned into a guinea pig. It’s the first EU member state to experience shock therapy and an attempt to undo Europe’s acquis communautaire. The outcome of the experiment will to a large extent determine the future of societies on the European periphery as well as those in the hard core of Europe. This book is divided into seven sections: The cycle of the metapolitefsi The long shadow of kleptocracy The tacit social contract Portentous December The captain’s portrait Europe’s step into the unknown Memorandum and bankruptcy It answers the question whether there was indeed a different path that could have been taken in the autumn of 2009, it explores the motives of the key figures, it deconstructs the “Memorandum-or-bankruptcy” dilemma, it puts the shock therapy under scrutiny, it sheds light on the so-called “memorandum party”, it explains the prospect of a debt haircut, it outlines the consequences of de-legitimizing power, it outlines the so-called Indignant movement, it describes the political game regarding a cross-party consensus and analyzes the mid-term fiscal program and the Eurogroup agreement of July 21.