Hellenoschwärmerei also philhellenism and Gräkomanie (hellenoeuphoria)

an exaggerated inclination toward Greece that fails to recognize the actual facts. – In the EU in particular said in connection with the admission of Greece to the EU in 1981 by decision of the Council of Ministers, against the explicit recommendation of the European Commission. There prevailed in the body, and probably in the public, the vague feeling that “We are all Greeks” (the title of an influential book by the romantic British writer Percy Bysshe Shelley, [1792-1822], published in 1821). When Greece falsified its entry into the euro area in 2001 with regard to the required convergence criteria – as it later became clear – this increased the burden on the EUR for a long time to come. – In early 2010, it became increasingly clear that Greece was heading toward sovereign default and becoming a burden for the euro area. Greece’s debt at the time was 113 percent of GDP, its budget deficit the year before (2009) was nearly thirteen percent, and its unemployment rate was eleven percent. – In Greece itself, the prevailing public scapegoat ideology remained in place, with people blaming “Brussels” for their own failures. The Hellenes responded to the government’s austerity measures – in 2009, employees there retired at an average age of 60 and received 94 percent of an average salary; in Germany, the figure was 41 percent at the same time – with revolt and strikes. – In spring 2010, European banks had EUR 140 billion of Greek government bonds in their portfolios: Papers that could only be deposited as collateral at a valuation discount. In the fall of 2012, Greece’s creditors were allowed to waive a good part of their claims through a “voluntary” debt haircut. – See bond spread, purchases, central bank, bail-out, ClubMed, Eurobonds, common, European Monetary Union, fundamental error, Friedman thesis, Greek crisis, Plan C, return ideology, rebound effect, Stability and Growth Pact, fundamental error, TARGET abuse, transfer union, constitutional article one, treaty compliance, twin deficit. – Cf. ECB Monthly Bulletin of May 2010, p. 50 f. (measures initiated by Greece to achieve Maastricht-
criteria).

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University Professor Dr. Gerhard Merk, Dipl.rer.pol., Dipl.rer.oec.
Professor Dr. Eckehard Krah, Dipl.rer.pol.
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https://www.jung-stilling-gesellschaft.de/merk/
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