Tuesday, October 30, 2012



Whose side are they on?

One of the prime causes of Greece's economic woes is tax evasion. An estimated 27.5% of the Greek economy is black, leading to a loss of 19 billion Euros of revenue a year. And a big part of this is Greece's wealthy, who seem to regard taxes as something peasants pay.

So, when a Greek journalist leaks a list of 2,000 wealthy Greeks (including politicians) with Swiss bank accounts who are suspected of evading taxes, what does the government do? Does it finally act on the list it has had in its possession for the past two years? Does it announce that it is investigating these cases and that prosecutions will be brought in due course. No, it arrests him. He now faces up to three years in jail for breach of privacy, despite the obvious public interest in the leak.

Its pretty clear whose side the Greek government is on - and it isn't that of its people.