We know how much trouble and pain Greece is going through. But they are not alone. The PIIGS, the US and others are likely facing similar fates.
The pain is not limited to sovereign nations, however. Note this excerpt from the New York Times, especially the emboldening added by me. How difficult must it have been for the Times to report this:
Among the most significant features of the plan, a Greek government official said, would be a measure making it easier for the government to lay off some of the many thousands of public sector workers, whose low levels of productivity and high wages are a big contributor to Greece’s debt problem. Until now, the government has not been able to lay off civil servants, whose employment rights are in effect constitutionally guaranteed.
Another reform high on the list is removing the state from the marketplace in crucial sectors like health care, transportation and energy and allowing private investment. Economists say that the liberalization of trucking routes — where a trucking license can cost up to $90,000 — and the health care industry would help bring down prices in these areas, which are among the highest in Europe.
While both correct and news “fit to print,” there probably was pain involved for at least some at the Times. To their credit, they did include the information.
An echo of Lenin’s New Economic Policy.
To say that some, or most, public sector employees deliver the double whammy of high wages and low productivity does not touch the true effect of their destructive force: the epoxy with which they grease the wheels of progress.