Greece may be at the bottom of the EU, but the Finance Minister has only seen real per capita income rise, which only affects the few and the elite anyway
They are deliberately misinforming, creating a virtual reality of prosperity, when approximately 70% of the Greek population is suffocating under the boot of Mitsotakis politicians in favor of the oligopolies that have brought the inflation of profiteering. At the same time that Eurostat ranks Greece in the penultimate place in the index of gross domestic product per capita (GDP per capita), above only Bulgaria, the “tsar” of the economy Kostis Hatzidakis tries to convince that we live in the country with the best quality of life. In particular, the politician who has not spent a single hour at work, even though he is 58 years old, with a press release of the ministry he heads misinformed that Greece is the champion in increasing the real GDP per capita throughout Europe . The mainstream media took over by reproducing the distributed press release.
According to K. Hatzidakis, based on the real GDP per capita, which takes inflation into account and for 2023, Greece is the growth champion in the European Union with a performance of 2.5% (from 18,690 euros in 2022 to 19,150 euros in 2023 at constant 2010 prices). In the same year, real income per capita in the EU stagnated – in fact, it declined marginally.
Behind the numbers
If someone knows basic economics and doesn’t want to be misinformed, they know that comparing real GDP per capita to different times (eg 2023 to 2022) must be adjusted for inflation. If this does not happen, per capita income appears inflated relative to reality. On the other hand, if one wants to make comparisons with other states, one must take into account the cost-of-living distortion in economic transactions.
But the third factor is what brings the big problem. Mitsotakis policies since 2019 have brought extreme income inequalities, that is, the poor have become poorer and the rich have become richer. What this means in practice is that for a small class of rich people the per capita income rises significantly. It is certain that the pro-cartel policies have brought obscene profits to a few big companies: an increase of more than 300% in 150 profitable listed companies in 2022 compared to 2021, and a 360-380% increase in the profits of the country’s refineries. On the other hand, the massive squandering of public money with direct assignments of more than 10 billion euros to “Maximos SA” mothers has brought this… inflation.
Almost last…
As it follows again from economic theory, if we want to compare the quality of life between countries, we should take into account the purchasing power parity, so that we know what the population can buy with their money. This is where Eurostat comes in. Greece is in direct competition with Bulgaria for the last place.
In more detail, Greece ranks penultimate among the 27 EU countries in 2023 in terms of GDP per capita expressed in purchasing power units. Out of all the EU countries, Bulgaria (average 100) occupied the last place (64 points), while Greece was the penultimate (67 points). On the other hand, in Greece real wages fell by 0.2%, close to the European average, but corporate profits rose by 5.9%, the third fastest rate in the EU-27, according to a report by the Confederation of European Union Institute. Trade Unions (ETUC).
After all, as it turns out, we are champions of government disinformation. K. Hatzidakis is a politician, but the systemic media and their economic editors, who cannot possibly not know elementary economics, how can they tolerate misinforming the citizens?
See also: Pappas: “Mr. Hatzidakis cannot be believed even on April Fool’s Day”
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#Alchemies #Hatzidakis #GDP.. #Bulgaria
