Europe’s March to Non-Lethal Suicide Now Contains Lethal Suicide

Economic Policy That is Costing Jobs, Growth and Now is Costing Lives

When it became clear that the European policy towards Greece was going to be (A) highly destructive not only to Greece but to Europe as a whole and (B) unsuccessful,  The Dismal Political Economist started a series of posts, with this being one of the first.

European Economic Community Planning to Commit Non-Fatal Suicide over Greece Bailout

The Definition of Non Fatal Suicide was this:   

“A set of actions, policy decisions, strategies and positions taken by a business, regulatory agency or government which are so self-destructive that they would cause the demise of a lesser organization, but only inflicts huge but non-fatal harm to an organization that is strong enough to withstand the self-destructive behavior”

And the conclusions about European policy had been this

The European Community,seem determined to take a series of steps, which if fully implemented would lead to severe destruction of the value of that entity.  If current policy is carried out it could well earn a chapter of its own if Barbara Tuchman ever updates her classic work on the self destructive actions of nations, The March of Folly.

And this

the European community and the IMF provided Greek with sovereign funding in return for Greek reforms of its economy.  It was clear from the beginning that the so-called reforms were actually severe austerity that would cause the Greek economy to shrink, thus increasing its fiscal problems rather than ameliorating them.

And now it turns out The Dismal Political Economist was wrong and insensitive to use the term non-lethal suicide with respect to Greece.

Two years into Greece's debt crisis, its citizens are reeling from austerity measures imposed to prevent a government debt default that could cause havoc throughout Europe. The economic pain is the price Greece and Europe are paying to defend the euro, the centerpiece of 60 years of efforts to unite the Continent. But as Greece's economy shrinks, its society is fraying, raising questions about how long Greeks will be able to take the strain.

Not long, as it turns out



Associated Press

Police sprayed a man who set himself afire

 in Thessaloniki, Greece, on Friday.

 The former small-business owner,

 who said he was ruined after taking

on a series of bank loans, survived.



The most dramatic sign of Greece's pain, however, is a surge in suicides.

Recorded suicides have roughly doubled since before the crisis to about six per 100,000 residents annually, according to the Greek health ministry and a charitable organization called Klimaka.

About 40% more Greeks killed themselves in the first five months of this year than in the same period last year, the health ministry says.

A tragic and chilling illustration of the results of economic policy that is just plain wrong.