Shock measures for a shocking crisis

Published on 24 May 2011 at 10:16

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"Shock and Awe": the day after the government of George Papandreou announced new steps to reduce the government deficit, To Ethnos leads on its front page with the expression used by America for its aerial bombing strategy during the Iraq war in 2003. Because the programme is brutal, the daily writes: "Immediate and massive privatisations in telecommunications, electricity, water, ports, etc... New cuts in wages, pensions and bonuses. Further increases in VAT and new taxes on gas and cigarettes. Layoffs even in the public sector." In its editorial, To Ethnos adds that “after yesterday, nothing will be the same again in Greece. And tomorrow, whether the government succeeds in its mission or not, nothing will be as it was today. Big changes are coming, and they will change our society as we have known it since the return of democracy in 1974."

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