Political Geographer Discusses Greece's Woes

Political geographer Georges Prevelakis spoke on the various challenges facing Greece in a discussion hosted by the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies yesterday afternoon.

Prevelakis, a former Tufts affiliate and current professor at the University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne, elaborated on Greece’s interactions with the European Union and talked about the profound implications of Greece’s debt woes in the wake of the financial crisis.

“Today we received unpleasant news from Greece,” Prevelakis said. “The financial deficit has grown.”

Prevelakis contextualized his speech by discussing Greece’s history and its “contradictory” reputation over the years.

“There is an ambiguity about the image of Greece,” Prevelakis said, noting that the nation’s positive image during the 2004 Olympic Games strongly contrasted with its reputation during the sovereign debt crisis just five years later.

Aside from history, Prevelakis discussed some of the factors that contributed to the debt crisis.

As he explained, neither the private nor the public sector was healthy in the time leading up to Greece’s sovereign debt crisis.

“From the moment Greece was in the Eurozone, it could borrow money,” Prevelakis explained.

But as Greece took out loans from other nations, this capital was not matched by foreign dollars coming into the nation to support business and development.

In fact, “practically no foreign investment was taking place in Greece,” Prevelakis said.

Prevelakis went on to discuss Greece’s issues with corruption in the public sector, particularly in the fields of education and healthcare.

As he explained, Greek taxes often failed to cover the national cost for public services. As a result, many Greek citizens wound up paying for services twice—first through their taxes, and later through under-the-table payments at schools and hospitals.

“The public sector was not functioning well,” Prevelakis said. “These forms of corruption start small but then grow.”

In discussing the nation’s membership in the European Union, Prevelakis said Greece is integral to the EU as “a member for three decades and a pioneer of the enlargement of the EU.”

He continued by noting that the financial problems in Greece are not completely isolated from the rest of Europe.

“Greece is in trouble, but so is the EU,” he said.