The past year has not been a good year for some of the weaker economies in the euorzone. Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain have earned the notorious label of PIIGS, and they are often considered as the countries most likely to default and provoke another major economic crisis.
Today, few analysts brush aside the possibility of a eurozone country defaulting by arguing that in an emergency other countries would rush to rescue an EU country is distress. If there is one thing that the financial crisis of these last two years has done, it is to banish the dogmatic beliefs on what can and cannot happen in a crisis.
Greece has so far been the country that has caused most concern for the stability of the eurozone. Ireland, of course, has had its not insignificant problems, but these have been attributed more to political incompetence than to any widespread corruption in public governance. Italy runs a permanent political circus that affects their resourceful business community that however has learned to survive and thrive despite of its politicians.
The problem with Greece is that in the last several years the country has experienced one long carnival of corruption. If there is one country that will precipitate a major crisis in the eurozone, it is likely to be Greece. The recent change in government has shown how not even the European Commission can rely on getting objective factual information from this country, even if the Greeks are certainly not the only culprits in this area.
The Greek projected fiscal deficit for 2009 is now turning out to be much higher than predicted only a few months ago just before the elections. This is not as a result of understandable projection errors, but because of deceitful window dressing of public accounts by the outgoing administration.
Just one example of how Greek politicians managed to exploit the gravy train of public funds is the procurement of swine flu vaccine. The current Greek Minister of Health is currently talking to drug companies to cancel an order for eight million doses of swine flu vaccine. Her predecessor had ordered 16 million doses when Greece has a population of 11 million. So far only 320,000 people have been vaccinated.
It seems that the Greek corrupt bureaucracy learned little of nothing from the recent experience of the 2004 Olympic Games. These games, partly financed by the Greek taxpayers, cost €14 billion to organise, double what it was projected to cost. Many business analysts maintain that bribes, tax evasion and smuggling are the order of the day in this eurozone country, as indeed in many other Mediterranean countries.
I recently spoke to a German sociologist who has a special interest in the Mediterranean social and political culture. He maintains that political corruption is endemic in the countries of the Mediterranean, whether they happen to be in the EU zone or in the Middle East and Africa.
It seems that we Mediterranean people are not unduly worried by the effects of political corruption. As long as politicians are prepared to close one eye to the petty corruption of ordinary citizens, they are almost guaranteed that they will not be penalised by these same citizens in an electoral contest. A culture of political patronage, where politicians have a tight grip on administering regulatory controls that can affect the daily activities of ordinary people, ensures that public governance remains tainted with corrupt practices.
There are, of course, some politicians who are trying to address this debilitating social illness. The New Greek Prime Minister, rattled by the recent downgrading of his country by Fitch and Standard and Poor's, called corruption "the heart of the Greek problem" and announced austerity measures to win back the backing of financial markets. He went on to say: "We will change or we will sink."
Will Mediterranean countries like Greece ever change their culture to embrace the higher standards of public governance that generally characterise northern democracies? Only the mobilisation of public opinion can bring about political change. Some sceptics will tell you that political change will only happen on the Greek calends or when pigs fly.
My trust is in a new and younger generation of politicians who will find the courage within themselves to challenge the popular belief that massive political corruption is tolerable, as long as John Citizen is allowed to get away with making some illegal gain on the side.
I like to think that maybe some pigs will fly in 2010.
jcassarwhite@yahoo.com