Crisis from German, French and Turkish housewives’ perspectives
Μάι 14th, 2010 | Zeynep Pelin Ataman | Κατηγορία: Ελλάδα, ΚόσμοςWhen Europe struggles to save Greece and thus euro, many comments, essays and even cartoons including lessons derived and predictions on Europe’s future have appeared in the world mass media. I would like to draw current ‘financial kitchen’ picture from housewives’ point of view, instead of explaining it by sophisticated economic jargon, like Angela Merkel did in 2008. After Lehman Brothers went bankrupt Chancellor of Germany had this advice for indebted bankers, consumers and governments: Be more like a German housewife. According to Mrs. Merkel, the financial crisis could have been avoided as “One should simply have asked a Swabian housewife because she would have told us her worldly wisdom: in the long run, you can’t live beyond your means.” As the Greek parliament has taken a series of steps to bring the nation’s deficit under control, the Greek people are angry to hear that they must accept fewer of the benefits they receive and pay more taxes to avoid a catastrophic default.