Chronicle

2011-20122012EconomicsVoices from the edge RELOADED. Economic crisis in Greece and its Impact on Cyprus.Having recently read an article by LSE professor Paul Strong, I felt the need to research the current issue of the economiccrisis in Greece further. This issue has been dealt with in numerous Economics lessons which have dealt witheconomic growth, crisis and economic recovery. Thus, having already acquired the theoretical background needed inorder to observe such economic issues, the study of related articles such as this leads me to deep scepticism about theeconomic future of this country.The article summarises research carried by Dr. Strong in Greece called ―Voices From the Edge‖ since it investigates theeconomic patterns between the two edges of Greece, both in terms of geographical position and between people whohave different occupations and their attitude towards the life that they have recently been forced into, what they couldexpect from it, whether or not they are satisfied and if it was better in the past or not.As the interviewer states, opinions vary and are unpredictable and depend on the socioeconomic status of each interviewee.People in Greece according to what the author is briefly describing from his survey, are affected in a largescale by the crisis that has hit the country since it affects their economic stature and not only. The Greek people blameequally the leaders of the world and the owners of capital as well as their own leaders.Greeks do know and feel bad about the fact that their country‘s economic downfall at the very moment is also an inevitableresult of the way they acted economically when phenomena like tax evasion and bribery used to be commonevents. The author approached the people using a small motorbike and at first most of the locals were curious andkeen to help him, but once they learned who he was and the actual cause of his visit, they were then unwilling to answerhis questions. A fairly sufficient explanation could focus on the locals‘ belief that Strong actually wanted to exposethe Greek Downfall in a humiliating approach rather than doing research. Anyhow the views of the people clearlypointed out that hard times arrived in Greece but for some people life in the previous critical moments in the history ofGreece was either better or worse depending again, on the economic stature of each interviewee.If we put Dr. Strong‘s article in a Cypriot context, we will notice that many people have been wondering about the degreewhich the Greek downfall is affecting our life and economy. Cyprus is already a victim of the economic crisis thatis ongoing in the world; however Cyprus is going to be affected in a deeper level by Greece‘s condition since manyCypriot businesses invested in Greece and mainly banks invested in Greek government securities and now the Greekgovernment faces a crash which will severely hit Cyprus.It is quite noticeable that the Cypriot economy can not host an enormous number of foreign labour, however there areaspects in our economy that dictate the need for foreign hands since the locals have been moving away from varioussectors of the economy. Economic theory defines de-industrialisation as the movement away from manufacturing- orthe secondary sector of the economy and into the tertiary sector which is the service sector of each country. Since theCypriot economy has been steadily growing and moving into the service sector over the last decade, it could be arguedthat the small primary and secondary sectors of our economy need to be enhanced by foreign labour. Nevertheless,foreign labour arrivals could depend on the training and working abilities of foreigners since unemployment alreadyreaps young Cypriots.This, in addition to multibillion Cypriot investments in Greek Bonds highlights one fact that should be understood by allwho have understanding of basic economic theory. Greek bankruptcy will pull Cyprus deeper into recession, so the onlyway to survive this economic tsunami is to aid in the Greek recovery by all means necessary.The Greek paradigm should act as a gridline for our generation since our bonds with Greece expand beyond the economy.Cultural defects like behaviors of tax evasion and other socioeconomic features that promote negative economicexternalities should be avoided by all means. A good start is to promote education at a level which will ensure qualitativeinjections of future labour and economic discipline.Alexandros Loizou 5B59