From war reparations to ‘profligate Greeks’: why political rhetoric is obscuring the real issues in Greece

The present standoff between Greece and its creditors has centred around a package of reforms that must be approved before further financial assistance can be granted to the country. Aris Trantidis writes that while the focus has been on economics, the real cause of the deadlock stems from the realm of politics: both from the broad ideological commitments both sides have made and from the demands of domestic party politics. He argues that against this backdrop political rhetoric, such as the focus on Greece ‘spending beyond its means’, or the demand from the Greek government that Germany should pay around €279 billion in war reparations, has obscured the key macroeconomic issues that exist in Greece.