Europe's Malpractice of Greece
The Greek patient is in a bad way and needs a potent remedy to make
a swift recovery, but Europe's financial hospital seems to have
forgotten its Hippocratic Oath.
By James K. Galbraith
June 23, 2015 "Information
Clearing House" - "Deutsche
Welle"
-
A modern hospital is equipped with a variety of specialized wards.
One of them is the intensive care unit, or ICU. Here go those who
are especially sick and in need of the most devoted attention. The
existence of the ICU recognizes that illness and operations do not
affect all patients in the same way. Some, who are robust, recover
quickly. Others who are weaker, or older, or sicker, may require
different treatments and more help.
Europe's financial hospital has been busy for five
years, dealing with victims of the world crisis and of the lending
binge that came before it. Ireland, Portugal, Spain and (to a
degree) Italy have filled the beds. They have taken the medicine,
and followed the prescribed routine. Not one has fully recovered.
But then again, none of those countries were ever lethally sick - at
the worst, they suffered declines of 5 to 10 percent of GDP, and
have been more or less stable for the past few years.
Greece is a special case.
She was a weak patient to begin with. Her institutions were not
strong. Her industries were not competitive. She binged on those
pre-crisis loans. And when the collapse came, Europe and the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) prescribed an exceptional dose of
the standard drugs - perhaps three times more than was given to
anyone else. The results were toxic. Greece has lost over a quarter
of her income, she has 29 percent unemployment and her government
has no cash reserves.
In any modern hospital, this patient would be on
life support. Transfusions would be given. Intra-venous hydration, a
feeding tube and an oxygen mask would be supplied. The doctors would
not be embarrassed; on the contrary, they expect that in certain
cases, the routine treatments do not work. They expect that in
certain cases, more is required.
But today's Europe is a hospital with no
ICU. Instead, the doctors have kept the patient in the
ordinary ward. Every few days,
they come in and check the charts. They see that
there has been no change. And so they lecture the
patient. She must exercise! She must take still more of
the medicine! She must not expect special treatment!
After all, they point out, look at the other patients!
See how much better they are doing! And on and on. And
then the doctors depart.
Meanwhile, back in their offices, the doctors feud. One
- the IMF - says that surgery is essential, to
restructure the
patient's debt. Others - from the governments of
Germany and other states - object that such surgery is
costly and they do not wish to pay the bill. Meanwhile
the European Central Bank administers saline liquidity -
drip by drip - to the patient's banks.
After five years of this, with death
in sight, the Greek people have decided to reject the
treatments. They have asked, over the past four months,
for meetings with the hospital directors, to see if the
protocols can be changed. They have been told, no, not
unless your doctors agree. But the doctors do not like
to have their authority challenged. And just imagine -
they report back to their chiefs - what would happen if
we agreed? Soon the other patients might get ideas;
think of what that would cost! So the treatments remain
the same and the results get worse.
Stick to the Oath
There is a principle here, it's called
the Hippocratic Oath and it is, in origin, incontestably
Greek. The principle is, "First, do no harm." Has that
principle now been replaced by another, originating in
the sordid culture of international finance: "First,
lose no money?"
And if so, should the patient leave
the hospital? That is the choice she now must face. It
is not an easy choice. Perhaps if you go home, you may
die. The doctors do not want you to leave. They place
obstacles in the way. To defy them requires real
courage, as anyone who has ever been in the situation
knows. But then again, maybe back home, things will
improve? Maybe that debt can just be cut off - a crude
operation that sometimes does save lives. Maybe the
fresh air and home cooking will help? Imagine how
furious those doctors will be, when they see the patient
getting better on her own!
That is where we are in the struggle
between Greece, Europe and the IMF. The outcome cannot
be known, and in the end, history will judge. But I do
believe that when history does judge these matters, her
sympathy will be with the patient Greece. Committees of
squabbling doctors, jealous of their power and stuck in
their ways, do not come off well.
James K. Galbraith holds the Lloyd
M. Bentsen Jr. Chair in Government/Business Relations
and a professorship of government at the Lyndon B.
Johnson School of Public Affairs, The University of
Texas at Austin. He is the author of "The End of Normal:
The Great Crisis and the Future of Growth."
© 2015 Deutsche Welle
