Greece is at the eye of the storm gathering over the world economy, and threatening to tear the eurozone apart. But should the rest of us be sorry for Greece, or angry? Here, two experts present opposing arguments for and against sympathy.
Here are some winning examples:
- The railway system would be cheaper if every passenger was taken to their destination by taxi
- Every MP has the right to an official car
- There are more Porsche owners than taxpayers declaring an income of over €50,000 (£43,000)
Instead of using low interest rates and the efficiencies of the world's largest single market as a mechanism to drive economic modernisation, Greek politicians continued their game of buying support by splurging state largesse.
The Greek people played too.
At the same time, of course, the national game of tax avoidance continued at Olympic levels of performance, while the books - with notable outside help and connivance - were cooked.
The economic tide has now firmly receded, and it's obvious that the Greeks have been skinny dipping, with the result that this rather small corner of the mighty eurozone is now terrifying commanders-in-chief and potentates from Berlin, to Washington, to Beijing.
This small crack in the dream of a common European currency has the potential to become a Charybdis-like whirlpool, sucking in the whole world economy.
The Greeks, of course, are far from the only ones to blame. Others built a fatally flawed euro edifice, while others also broke rules or turned a blind eye while rules were broken.
The Greeks themselves - many of whom, too young to be tainted by blame, now face a devastatingly bleak future - will suffer mightily in years to come.
But in the depths of a crisis the priority is not to blame or to feel too much pity - the real priority is to get out of the crisis. Now is not the time to feel sorry for the Greeks.
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