I just heard......Greece's debt is somwhere along the lines of 500BILLION, yet has the population no greater than the county of Los Angeles. And for reference, CA's out of control abyss of debt is a mere 20+Billion
And alas, much of the structure of Greece is built around one massive public work force. Add to that, the adoption of a largely welfare state, where Government is basically to take care of everything. An excerpt:
The high-spending Greek welfare state has encouraged high consumption (why save when the government will do that for you?) and low labor force participation (why not retire and earn a generous pension, or quit and get a welfare check?). Relative to the other low-income euro zone countries, Greece has the highest ratio of household consumption expenditures relative to GDP (70.6%) and the lowest labor force participation rate of people between the ages of 15 and 64 (61.4%).
These data show that Greece, when compared to all other euro zone members, has been most egregious in consuming and enjoying leisure beyond it means, based on government “social protection” spending levels that target a rich country’s low poverty rate. Low labor force participation has also been a consequence of these perverse incentives. Together, these various aspects have driven the country into accumulating a massive unsustainable government debt
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THIS is the direction were are headed in, with liberal policies and efforts to grow government
