Thanks to the Nobel Laureates and Scholarsbut they must insist on specific measures
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
By a concerned Greek citizen
The letter of the 15 Nobel laureates and other distinguished professors regarding the horrible plight of Greece (now in its seventh year without any signs of upturn) is very touching, for in many ways they go to the heart of the matter, by fixing the blame “on mechanisms creating the deficit and debt”.
This however requires going deeper into the specific details that lead to such results; one of the saddest ones concerns the fact that so many of the well-to-do in Greece find innumerable ways of not paying taxes, and hardly an EU government or the troika or the newly found “institutions” have devised effective means to tackle this problem. It would, after all, require the cooperation of all governments and respective central banks of countries (within and outside the EU) in whose banks untaxed Greek money (huge by all accounts) finds a safe heaven. If anything, the troika from 2010 and the institutions in this current year, with the cooperation of successive Greek governments, have done everything possible to insure that these well-to-do keep paying no taxes (it is obvious that if they share in the tax burden, this burden will be lighter for the less well-to-do, the end result being a stimulus for the economy). If the letter of these well-intentioned academics is to have any effect they must delve deeply into this problem by pointing out all the tax measures that exist in their countries to make sure that the rich pay their share of taxes, that are hardly applied in Greece; and then wonder why the obvious was not done from early on, long before 2009, when Greece was found to have a credit problem (Greece has been a member of the Eurozone since 2003).
Last, as the letter is addressed to the Vice Minister for Research, Technology and Innovation, Professor Fotakis, they could have also insisted on the same standards for evaluating higher education and research be applied to Greece, as to their countries (e.g. have members of the study sections known in advance, and names of all ad-hoc reviewers of research proposals publicized after the evaluations are completed, just as scientific journals do at the end of each year). While a start was made for such practices over 30 years ago, things have gradually been clouded with a shroud of mystery, and the insistence of the association of university professors and researchers to put into practice such simple measures regarding the last disbursement of about 1 billion euros in research funds from 2010 onwards, has met with a flat no from successive ministers of education and ministry officials.
There can be no better way to retain the excellent intellectual potential of Greece within the country, than an emphasis into education/health, research and development, provisions that went into effect in other countries with similar problems but not in Greece. It is never too late to do so, and requiring the haves to pay their fair share of the state budget, and transparency in evaluation of research and disbursement of research monies are necessary means and tools to the goal of ending Greece’s economic depression, consequently leading to the road of prosperity.