From my Florida window, I can see Sagos and Greece

The front of the Parthenon, temple to ancient Athens' patron deity, Athena. (Image from CIA World Factbook, US Govnmt.)The country of Greece is in turmoil. We Americans don't seem very interested, but we should be.

Germany is a target for some Greeks angered by their country’s economic woes. German Chancellor Angela Merkel was recently depicted in an image altered to make it look as though she was wearing  a Nazi uniform. A Greek newspaper came up with that.

Around the world, fiscal conservatives are targeted by big government lovers in media.

How can a country with high levels of literacy be on such rocky ground?

The CIA World Factbook gives an idea how that came about in part:

“Greece has a capitalist economy with a public sector accounting for about 40% of GDP and with per capita GDP about two-thirds that of the leading euro-zone economies. Tourism provides 15% of GDP. Immigrants make up nearly one-fifth of the work force, mainly in agricultural and unskilled jobs. Greece is a major beneficiary of EU aid, equal to about 3.3% of annual GDP.”

The Financial Times noted that Greeks still recall the suffering of the Nazi occupation, but Greeks aren’t totally delusional:

“Greek economic mismanagement, public sector corruption and dysfunctional politics inspire much self-criticism. Animosity towards Germany is not sweeping through all levels of Greek society.”

While international media and US Government reports are useful, personal experience is also useful. A writer whose work I admire—Jacques Delacroix—penned an essay about firsthand experience in a country many of us may never see.

As an aside, I had an opportunity to visit Greece—a freebie. I declined.

Delacroix’s essay at his website Facts Matter is an eye-opener in more ways than one, but parts of it should hit home for the well-informed American with a realistic approach to limitations on central powers.

This passage—I hate to truncate because the essay is an intricate construct—gives a small idea of differences in the free market in a comparison between Greece and other countries:

“Around 2003, my wife and I landed in Athens where her baggage failed to follow. We found ourselves downtown, in a business district trying hard to buy her some emergency clothing. We were not dawdling because the temperature was in the 90s. It was about 2:30 p.m. on a Saturday. (The day of the week matters.) Quickly, it became clear to me that the clothing stores and the department stores around us were trying to close for the rest of the week. I recognized this phenomenon because I was familiar with France, another European Union country. Anyway, my guess was correct. All the stores were closed by 3:30 at the latest. (Yes, my wife was able to buy some clothes. Thanks for asking.)”

The anecdote would amaze most of us accustomed to shopping until we drop at 9 p.m. in most US stores on the weekend.

That essay brought to mind another article, one I’d meant to write about months ago but didn’t get around to. Chris Edwards at the Libertarian-leaning Cato Institute offered a brief analysis of US federal spending. Edwards came under fire—we often experience that when we tightfisted types, idealists in correlating personal wealth to freedom—for his figures. He wrote:

“My good friend Kathy Ruffing at CBPP takes me to task for testifying that government spending in the United States is 41 percent of GDP, which in my view is a very high and harmful level.”

Edwards defends his method and his conclusions in the column American Government Spending: 41 percent of GDP.

Thus we have the CIA World Factbook telling us that Greece has a public sector comprising about 40 percent of GDP and we have an expert on taxes and economics telling us US government spending is 41 percent of GDP.

Toss in Delacroix’s enlightening firsthand account, both the anecdote cited earlier and this:

“Greece does not have much to rely on. Its workforce is less productive than that of any number of Third World countries. Its polity is definitely Third World, in the fundamental sense that citizens and businesses there cheat massively on their taxes.”

Then walk with me to my window here in Florida. Just beyond the Sago and ferns, beyond the great oaks laden with Spanish moss, I can see Greece. You should be able to see it as well, with the naked eye.

~~Read archived articles related to federal spending at The US Report.

(Commentary by Kay B. Day/Feb. 15, 2012)