NYT: Greeks Promote Different Kinds of Economy

The New York Times published an extensive article on how Greeks have decided to experiment with a new kind of economy by redefining the market, in order to save their businesses. The article was entitled “After Crisis, Greek Work to Promote ‘Social’ Economy” and it was published on January 28. According to NYT, the existing Greek market system has failed due to “endemic corruption, budgetary mismanagement by the state and the overbearing demands of global financial markets.” Therefore, businessmen across Greece are experimenting with the idea of completely bypassing middlemen and starting to sell directly to consumers instead. Even though these might not be long-term solutions, at this moment they are the Greeks’ last effort to face the economic crisis. Furthermore, the article stresses the fact that attacks against capitalism are common in Greece, where SYRIZA, “a coalition of radical leftist forces, narrowly lost the last national election in 2012 and according to opinion polls, is now the country’s most popular party.” While, the party’s leader, Alexis Tsipras “decorates his party’s office in Athens with a poster of the revolutionary icon Che Guevara.” SYRIZA has mainly complained about the cutting of jobs, particularly in the public sector and fought against the austerity measures imposed to Greece by international creditors. “As the left remains deeply committed to much of the status quo, the task of answering calls for a new economic order and bringing some relief to Greece’s misery has fallen to people like Mr. Tsolakidis, who organizes the ranks of the no-middlemen movement in his region through a local nonprofit collective called the Voluntary Action Group of Pieria.” Finally, the article presents these initiatives in detail and presents statements from the activists who participated in them in order to tackle the despair of many Greeks who are trying to exit the economic crisis.

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com