Greece: Austerity's unexpected allies

Contrary to pre-electoral proclamations and the recent optimism of the government and its European allies, the situation since 2015 has only gotten worse. Pensions have been cut twice more (with additional cuts promised in future). More than 1 million Greeks have already suffered some form of appropriation due to debt, with another 1.7 million waiting in line - a number that represents only 70% of those indebted to the tax office. One in three face material and social deprivation (Eurostat, 2016), placing Greece third after Romania and Bulgaria. And the slight decrease in the unemployment rate represents a worsening of labour market conditions, reflecting above all an expansion of short- term and part-time contracts at approximately half 2010 wage levels. There are more examples of social and material experiences of dispossession but this short list forces the conclusion that the Syriza/ANEL coalition has not merely continued austerity at the pace of its predecessors - it has accelerated it. It has effectively legislated austerity’s inescapability by promising to maintain a budget surplus of 3.5% for the next five years, a target which depends on further cuts (such as heating subsidies and an assistance benefit for low pensioners) and €950 million increases in direct and indirect taxes, all included in the latest budget proposal submitted in December 2017.