economy is concerned, and has major repercus-
sions, not only on incomes, but also on productive
capacity and social cohesion, as the lack of
investment, combined with persistent unemploy-
ment, contribute to the obsolescence of physical
and human capital”.
In the same wavelength, Alpha Bank’s
Weekly
Economic Report
states that “the recovery of eco-
nomic activity should, at all costs, be further
enhanced through decisive measures”, albeit point-
ing out that “this will not be achieved by incessant-
ly draining the disposable incomes of salaried
employees and pensioners and all those who man-
aged, using their life savings, to buy a home and a
car, through [the implementation of] an unrealistic
tax-collecting policy, which supposedly reduces
deficits, but in fact hampers the effort to crack down
on tax evasion and tidy up the government. The
story of Nasreddin Hoca’s donkey* is, in this case,
very up to date and extremely instructive”.
On the other hand, though, the “leap and bleak”
year 2012 also left a gleam of hope which, pro-
vided it is not left to wither away in the next few
months, may raise the consumers’ spirits and
improve their sentiment, a main prerequisite for
changing their attitude toward consumption.
This gleam of hope was the conclusion of negoti-
ations with the troika. It seems “to have had a
calming effect to some extent, despite the signifi-
cant burden that [it] will bring upon a significant
part of society, which can be explained with the
fact that this lifted some of the uncertainty regard-
ing the prospects”, stresses the Foundation for
Economic & Industrial Research (IOVE) in its
conjunctural indicators survey for December.
In December, Greece’s Economic Sentiment
Indicator increased, according to the researchers,
reaching its two-year high. The Foundation says
that the improvement of the economic climate is
mainly due to the Eurogroup’s approval for the dis-
Trade with Greece
56
*According to the story, Hoca, convinced that his donkey ate too much, reduced the daily amount of fodder. With each passing day the donkey’s
intake become so meagre that the animal starved to death. Incredulously, Hoca said: “Just as he was getting used to it, he died”.
