From riches to rags or what went wrong in Greece

Abstract

The economic and social progress achieved by Greece in the post war decades decelerated after 1974 because all institutions sustaining the efficient operation of democracy and free markes were deliberately and gravely eroded. Under the impetus of hard core socialist provisions introduced in the 1975 constitution, economic policies extended further in the direction of unfettered statism and the international competitiveness of the Greek economy was destroyed. Some researchers have attributed the economic decline of Greece to its entry into the EU. I examine these allegations and find that they have little or no basis in terms of the available evidence.