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Greek GDP Plunges To Year 2000 Levels
That things in Greece are hopeless and getting worse is an understatement. With unemployment levels off the charts, the pension and retirement systems effectively gone and every able-bodied individual (what little remains of them) moving to the shadow economy which now accounts for 24% of GDP, there are few incentives for people to remain on payrolls, pay taxes and otherwise grow the economy via conventional channels. As a result, instead of an improvement in the economy despite all Greek foreign debt now having been forgiven courtesy of its recent conversion to perpetual Zero Coupons, not even during the depths of the recent economic collapse in late 2011 and early 2012 has the economic collapse been as bad. Kathimerini reports that figures released by ELSTAT on Friday showed GDP at 37.7 billion euros in the period from January to March 2013 – the lowest quarterly GDP since 2000.
Remember how everyone said Q1 2012 is the bottom and there was only upside from there? They lied.
ELSTAT recorded an 8.3 percent drop in consumption in the first quarter from the same period in 2012, with private consumption falling 8.7 percent and state consumption sliding 7 percent. Total consumption declined from 38.5 billion euros in January-March 2012 to 35.3 billion euros in the same period this year.
Investment contracted by 11.4 percent year-on-year, amounting to 5.1 billion euros in Q1 this year against 5.7 billion euros last year. Notably, in the last quarter of 2012 investment came to 5.9 billion euros.
Imports decreased 7.8 percent in the first quarter of the year, dropping to 11.2 billion euros from 12.1 billion in the same quarter in 2012. Exports declined by 2.6 percent on an annual basis: They shrank from 8.6 billion euros in Q1 of last year to 8.4 billion this year.
Naturally, this means that Greece will be in non-compliance with the Troika terms once again, and yet another bailout of Greece is imminent.
For this year, the memorandum signed by Athens and its international creditors provides for an economic contraction of 4.2 percent, while the Finance Ministry expects it to be 4.5 percent and a recent report by the International Monetary Fund puts the figure at 4.9 percent.
But while until now the peace in the tormented nation has been preserved courtesy of that perpetual Bismarckian fallback dangling carrot, the welfare state and the threat of yanked pensions, soon there will be no such "opportunity cost" to revolution left.
Separately, the average monthly pension in Greece has dropped below 700 euros per month as a result of the various cuts imposed over the last few years.
Using data from the recently introduced Helios system for the monitoring and payment of pensions, it appears that the state pays over 4.4 million pensions, most through the Social Security Foundation (IKA), and the average pension amounts to 694.56 euros per month.
In total the state will pay 2.3 billion euros for main and auxiliary pensions this month.
Labor Minister Yiannis Vroutsis said on Friday that the new system “is for the first time shedding some light on the dark and gray areas of the social security system, securing absolute transparency.” This became possible after identifying the pensioners of all 93 social security funds and pension sections and confirming analytical data, and after the completion of a census of all pensioners.
Schauble warned two weeks ago that when the pension system is tapped dry, what follows next, is revolution. He was right.
Finally, for those who missed it, here is the photo study documenting the Greek slide into the "fourth world."
40-year-old Yiorgos, who became homeless in 2010 after his grocery shop went out of business, sleeps outdoors in central Athens February 3, 2013.
42-year-old Alexandros, from Serres in northern Greece, sits in the abandoned car he lives in, at the port of Piareus near Athens April 10, 2013. Alexandros owned a plant shop in Athens until 2010, when it was forced to close, he became homeless soon after.
Homeless people sleep outdoors in central Athens April 14, 2013.
A homeless scrap collector sleeps outside in central Athens May 26, 2013.
Stephanos became homeless in late 2012 when the clothes shop, where he had worked for over a decade, closed down and he had no income to pay for his flat. He now lives next to a church in central Athens and eats in soup kitchens. Stephanos smokes a cigarette as he sits on a rug in central Athens May 16, 2013.
36-year-old unemployed clerk Michael sits in the sun near a bridge in central Athens May 24, 2013. Michael worked as a hotel clerk for over fifteen years but when the hotel closed he was unable to find work and in late 2011 became homeless, two months later he was diagnosed with lymph node and thyroid cancer. He now lives outside a church.
51-year-old Romanian truck driver Adrian, who lost his job in 2010 when the lorry company he was working for closed down, sits with his head in his hands in central Athens January 18, 2013. Adrian survives by collecting scrap and lives in an abandoned warehouse in Athens central vegetable market.
50-year-old Giorgos sits with his belongings under a bridge, where he lives with a group of other homeless people, in central Athens May 25, 2013. Giorgos was forced to close down the billiard hall he owned in 2006, and spent time in prison for not paying his social security debts.
35-year-old Vassilis, who has been treated for severe physiological issues, sits in the afternoon sun under the bridge where he has lived for the last year and half in central Athens May 25, 2013.
58-year-old Matheos stands next to the makeshift shelter where he has lived since late 2011, on a hill in central Athens January 23, 2013.
56-year-old Boris Potev, a Bulgarian immigrant, lies on a mattress amid garbage in an Athens suburb April 9, 2013.
Michael, a 36-year-old unemployed man, poses by an abandoned open-air cinema in central Athens February 8, 2013. Michael worked as a hotel clerk for over fifteen years but when the hotel closed he was unable to find work and in late 2011 became homeless. Two months later he was diagnosed with lymph node and thyroid cancer. He now lives outside a church.
Marialena, a former drug addict who is on a methadone rehabilitation program, pushes away her boyfriend Dimitrios who is trying to clean up her self-inflicted wounds, under a bridge in central Athens May 15, 2013.
42-year-old Marialena, a homeless AIDS sufferer and former drug addict who is on a methadone rehabilitation program, drinks coffee after waking up next to her boyfriend Dimitrios in central Athens May 26, 2013. Dimitrios, 51, was a dancer in a famous Greek folk dancing troupe until he lost his job three years ago and became homeless.
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On the plus side, the IMF did admit it made some mistakes in the Greek bailout. Of course, they haven't told us what they will do to rectify these actions, but I am sure the IMF will make everything turn out okay for the Greek people.
http://dareconomics.wordpress.com/2013/06/08/around-the-globe-06-08-2013/
At least its only a recession as they say......./sarc
DEPRESSION in Greece, glad I visited when they were 'prosperous' and happy.
Visit Greece, a lovely archipelago full of history, the cradle of democracy, and the home of great mediterranean delicacies.
I'm going there with the wifey in September. A week and a half in Italy and then a week cruise to Greece with 1 day in Croatia. It should be fun. I would like to see that area before the civil war breaks out there. Plus I need to check out the area so I can get an idea if I would like to live there on one of the islands AFTER they (Greece) leave the Euro. Always looking for the cheap come up. I still like my plan for a vaction home in Belize, but I will check out eastern Med. in the fall. I will give my first hand report Oct. 1st.
For Gods sake declare bankruptcy, cut all federal programs designed to "save" the people (it's not working), exit the Euro, and let private banks issue currency backed by silver.
These fucking politicians will kill millions so long as they get their paycheck, exhibit #1 Greece.
Party like it's 1999! http://www.80svideos.tv/play.php?vid=162
Still a way to go down...
Buy when there's blood in the street. Long NBG.
how can a country be so fucked up. lol. drug addicts, alcoholics, lost souls everywhere. get a grip folks.
tbh they lack of spirit or will to change.
i guess intelligent people already left greece. the new land of misery. next to detroit?
just because everything sucks and you lost your money does not justify to let yourself go down the gutter completely.
just my opinion. everyone can change if they want to.
JJ McApe,
Go visit many neighborhoods in Chicago; they look like the pictures above.
congrats, that was probably the most ignorant comment ive ever read on ZH. you truly are a dumb fuck.
You must not come here very often.
Greece is soon to become the "Southern European Island Chain". Does Greece even have enough collateral for another bailout? Those GGBs are going to go up in flames. Anyone with half a brain isn't keeping money in Greek banks, for fear of being Cyprused.
My personal GDP went to zero a couple of years ago and nobody gave a chit. Warren Buffett's stash took a hit and the government couldn't throw enough billions at him to help him out. Something is wrong with this picture. I've got no problem with the government not giving a chit about my personal financial situations but I do with their attitude towards Warren and his ilk.
What a sorry pile of shit the banksters left behind. Misery, mayhem, and misfortune. The thieves need to be set as an example by roasting a few of them over an open fire pit.
Gold and Silver holders need to read this. US banksters are already LONG.
Manipulators Of Gold Now May Not Be Who You Think
"About a fifth of a second before the ho-hum jobs report, market manipulators triggered heavy indiscriminate short selling of Comex futures to “set the tone” and ensure today’s blast of liquidity by the Fed veered away from precious metals. With positioning already extreme and bullish going into the latest Friday sell off, one might think the Boyz walked into a dungeon and locked the door behind them."
Here: http://winteractionables.com/?p=3308
This just goes to show HOW MUCH TIME AND SUFFERING is necesary for people to get off their ass and do something. Even in Greece there has been no overthrow of the govt yet despite all the problems there. This means there are at least 10-20 years more to go in the west at least...
Forward!!
And the median pension probably is € 400 per month.
900 eur to be exact
The average monthly Social Security benefit for a retired worker was about $1,230 at the beginning of 2012.
That's a quote from the US Social Security site. 946 Euros.
The Cradle of Western Civilization. As goes Greece, so go we all.
Those ancient Greeks are long gone and what exists now is in name only...
...the Greeks, a "mongrel race . . . superstition-ridden, its stock corrupted by Saracens, Sicilians, Normans, Bulgars, Venetians, Turks and any old Levantine."
-Brian Sewell
http://articles.latimes.com/1998/jun/13/news/mn-59498
Translation = don't boost your "GDP" with debt that you cannot and won't repay.
I look at Marialena and feel so very sad. When I was a kid, they told me, study, work hard and you can make a difference and change. Looking at the world today, the same say it and yet nothing really changes. There is where government really fails to validate their existance, afterall if you cant successfully goven which includes taking care of your people, move aside and let someone...
what is this "change" you speak of?
"Whoever wishes to foresee the future must consult the past; for human events ever resemble those of preceding times. This arises from the fact that they are produced by men who ever have been, and ever shall be, animated by the same passions, and thus they necessarily have the same results."
--Machiavelli
I agree, looking at the past is important. They could start by kicking out the Troika as looking at the past, the Greek nation wasn't always under their thumb. Wipe out the national debt, accept the out comes, it wont be long before others like the Spanish do the same. They'll do everything they can so show you and prove to the world countries were better off together but you only need two or more to rebell, sign trade agreements between them then the union is gone and we're back to the start. That seems far better than where they find themselves today.
But the demographics are much better than Japan's .
It is all a matter of interpretation because at the rate that Greece's youth is leaving the country, there will not be enough youth to bury the dead. Then again it is a handy way to subdue unemployment figures.
Look up Greece's population pyramid on census.gov and you will see that you are wrong. Greece has the same demographic problem as Japan.
A 30 year old American in 5 years? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nhgfjrKi0o
The TROIKA plan is to amputate Greece's two legs and to then give her two prosthetic limbs and call that growth.
The question is who are the greater morons. The TROIKA for coming up with their strategy for Greece or Greece for accepting it.
The European Union, of which Greece is a part - is morally and spiritually decrepit, corrupt - full of unelected leaders, secure in their lies and gorging themselves on the wealth of European Citizens.
EU problems are man made and as such are FIXABLE. All that is required is the strength, honesty and energy to fix them. The bansksters must be contained or Greece, Spain, Portugal, Ireland and France will slowly sink into anarchy and despair.
The troika, and the European Leadership/Parliament need to get off their collective butts and make the changes that are needed.
Genuine change requires the Euro to be euthanased but with Brussel bureaucrats paying just 12% tax as well as other benefits, why should they do the right thing until they are actually pursued with meat cleavers?
LA today
One needs to read the ELSTAT (Greek Statistical Servive) bulletin of April 25th wherein ELSTAT specifically washes its hands of all Finance Ministry projections by refusing to give any quality assurances.
this is one of the worst written articles i have ever read. nowhere in the article does it include the acutal GDP of Greece so that it can be compared to the amount demanded by IMF etc, even though the article is about the GDP
I find the ZH articles fair to good. But I find the real gold is in the reader's posts and comments. This is where wisdom is found.
They shouldn't be allowed to have a revolution unless we can have one too.
I've worked hard at being able to run 20 miles non-stop in case I have to deliver something or run out of Los Angeles. I'm ready to go. Bring on the revolution.
Send arms there versus Syria, things might turn around.
Or not.
I wonder how bad it needs to get before they decide to depart the EUROZONE?
The slower you boil the frog the less likely he is to jump.
You have to ask - who precisely are "they" who would effect a putative departure of GR from the EUR zone? The politicians who have been bought by the Troika?? I have yet to see anyone spell out the exact mechanism, step by step, for this hypothetical event.
All I have heard is that it will take about 8 months to issue new currency. I am sure those who advocate for exit from the euro have thought about how to prevent everyone from withdrawing their money once this process starts, but I do not know myself. The people currently in the Parliament are, as you suggest, corrupt sellouts. I wouldn't look to them for anything. And there are so many of them -- 300-- for such a small country.
Greece is a typical example of what happens when you trust your politicians. They cant help but shaft you. How much pain will they take before they realize that the solution is to leave the eurozone, the oppositie of what politicians want.
Homeless man "smokes a cigarette". One thing I could never understand about the homeless people I have seen in LA is how, if they don't have money for food, shelter or clean clothing, why do they always seem to have money for cigarettes? At $4 a pack?
This makes it all A OK right?
Asshole.
This is life as a debt serf. The only hope for all the failed, southern EU countries is:
1) Leave the EU and become a soverign country again instead of an appendage;
2) Re-introduce your local currency;
3) De-value the shit out of it; and
4) Get back to work.
Otherwise, the future is more of the same except worse.
Greek politicians said, "Yes We can."
And they did.
Nice job.
Fuck the people. The banks are ok, right?
Look at the way that French bitch Legarde struts around the place and all those other EU parasites.No wonder the place is so fucked.
Only thing surprising is the fact theres not already full scale revolution in places like Greece Spain etc.
I dunno I expect there is poverty all over the world; even if u go to USA I am sure theres lots of poeverty in some places.
I'd rather take my chances as an illegal alien in Sweden or Switzerland than stay around in Greece. Why would anyone stay there at this point?
PS falling GDP is the new rising HDP, get used to it.
The reason why Greeks don't push their politicians out of the way and out of the EU/euro is simple: Turkey. Turkey is belligerent and openly talks of a new Ottoman empire. Greeks have the fear in the back of their minds that in the moments of weakness and chaos following an exit Turkey will pounce. The fear is powerful and not completely unfounded. For instance and amongst many other exampes, Turkey in the last few months has sent military warships to circle Mykonos and the Cycladic islands. Just google 'Turkish warships enter Greek waters' to see.
Dec. 2012: http://greece.greekreporter.com/2012/12/09/turkish-ship-in-greek-waters-...
March 2013: http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_20/03/2013_488985
Again March '13: http://www.defencegreece.com/index.php/2012/03/turkish-frigate-violates-...
May 2013: http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_27/05/2013_501028
The EU is the rock, Turkey the hard place and Greeks caught in between.
There was a post war period in Greece when there was famine. I never got the whole story, but there have been recent reports that food distribution is again a problem. that thing about the lessons of history may be apt in dealing with this round of hunger.