It is a common view that the current situation, which we are asked to deal with, evokes smaller or bigger arguments. There was dogmatism that collapsed, ideological obsessions that were demolished, and Keynes-based policies that take peculiar revenge. At least, this is what has been said by the Greek Deputy Minister of Financein an interview (StarTV 2020). A bras de fer (arm-wrestling) between ideological obsession and the reality revealed by a virus’s harmful outbreak. A bras de fer that has already led to one undisputed winner, public health and social protection.
It has recently been written
that radical reforms need to be put on the table and policies lasting more than
four decades need to be changed. In addition, governments should adopt a more
active role in the economy while envisioning public services (especially
healthcare and social work services) as an investment rather than as a barrier
(Financial Times 2020). More recently, Dr Robert Redfield, Director of the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), pointed out that,
“One thing has been made clear to me is that we must over-invest in public
health. We must make sure our state, local, tribal, territorial health
departments have what they need to respond in the future.”
Today, Greece’s healthcare
system performs relatively well regarding its public health (and only public
health) response against the coronavirus pandemic, compared to countries with
larger GPDs. For instance, according to the 2019 OECD ‘Health at a Glance’ review,
USA spends 16.9% of its GDP on healthcare, Belgium – a country with the
population comparable to Greece’s – spends 10.8% while the Netherlands spends 9.9%.
Greece, according to the same data, spends 7.8% on healthcare, less than the EU
average of 8.8%, with its share indicating the room for improvement. On the
other hand, Greece performs relatively well in the COVID-19 context, with 144 deaths,
or 1.34 deaths/100k population similar to Bulgaria (73 deaths, 1.04 deaths/100k
population), Albania (31 deaths, 1.08 deaths/100k population) or Slovakia (24
deaths, 0.44 deaths/100k population), according to the recent Johns Hopkins
data (Johns
Hopkins University & Medicine 2020). When considering the assumed mid-term
or long-term challenges, however, there’s still a need for continuous
preparations and systematic investment in healthcare human capital.
Furthermore, many external experts
warn the Greek administration (at its highest level) about the potential danger
of the virus’s rebound during the imminent autumn. Dr Nicholas Christakis, the Sterling Professor of Social and Natural
Science, Internal Medicine and Biomedical Engineering at Yale
University,has highlighted the danger of at
least a 75% chance of the coronavirus coming back with a second wave, as it happened
during 1918 and 1957 pandemics, and called for extra preparations (Strazewski
2020).
At the same time, one noticeable
thing is the level of relative tolerance the EU institutions show regarding each
member state’s capacity to effectively respond to public health challenges similar
to the current one. As a result, domestic officials in Greece must exercise
caution on some indicators, such as the share of the national GDP spent on healthcare,
which is currently below the EU average – as are the 5.4% employment rate in
healthcare and social work as a share of total employment rate (10.1% EU
average) and, respectively, the ratio of 3.3 nurses per 1,000 population, while
the EU average rate is 8.6% (OECD 2019).
All these coupled with other
structural inefficiencies compose the domestic healthcare environment that
needs further improvement. To that extent, short-term staffing has been announced
recently leading to obvious implications related to newly recruited healthcare
staff’s adjustment. However, as the coronavirus outbreak seems to be easing and
the growth curve has been flattened, past pledges remain.
Additionally, concerted effort must be made to address psychosocial implications of a long-lasting curfew and the deprivation of people’s freedom. According to one poll (Interview.com.gr 2020), 70% of the respondents say their mental health status is severely affected by the confinement measures, while in another survey (National Kapodistrian University of Athens 2020) 67% are worried about the national economy’s future trajectory.
To that extent, multidimensional
aspects must be considered in the context of ‘build back better’ (Morganstein
et al. 2017) process within a dilapidated environment. A process that requires
necessary expertise and proper human participation (eg from psychologists and
social workers) to ensure productive outcome to the benefit of communities.
First and foremost, a part of imminent challenges will certainly be related to
employment, an area in which Greece has clearly been underperforming lately.
According to ‘Ergani,’ the domestic employment data provider, during March 2020
– prior to the coronavirus outbreak peak – there were 85,276 fewer working
positions, which means a negative balance of -41,903 working positions
(Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs 2020). According to the International
Labor Organization’s adverse projections, there will be more than 24.7 million
unemployed people around the globe in 2020 (ILO 2020). At the same time, domestic
groundless projections initially had been of either slightly above 0% GDP
growth (!) (Protothema.gr2020),
or of an up to -3% GDP drop (iEfimerida.gr 2020), or – a
few days later – of an up to -4% GDP drop (CNN.gr2020).
Finally, according to the Stability Programme of the Hellenic Republic
for the period 2020-2023, officially submitted to the European Commission by
the Greek officials, the national economy is projected to drop by -4.7%
(Ministry of Finance 2020).
On the other hand, external
views indicate that Greek economy will suffer one of the hardest blows in the eurozone.
The IMF has projected a -10% GDP drop coupled with 22.3% unemployment rate (IMF
2020); UniCredit forecasts a -18,6% GDP drop (UniCredit 2020); Handelsblatt
said that Greece will see a GDP drop of up to -15% (In.gr 2020); while
Eurobank’s scenarios show a recession from -6,7% up to -10,6% in combination
with unemployment reaching up to 22,8% (Anastasatos
et al. 2020).
Notably, Greek Prime Minister has
stated that “a -10% [GDP recession] would be a consensus
amongst most European countries,” moving closer to external projections
and at the same time playing down a part of the aforementioned assumptions. To
that extent, few months earlier, a National Bank of Greece’s release had vividly
portrayed the post-election profile of the gradually declining economy, accentuating
the primary budget deficit on a cash basis in the first two months of 2020
(prior to the virus era) of €383 million compared to a primary surplus of €832 million
in the corresponding period last year – another wound to the so-called government
credibility (National Bank of Greece 2020).
As a conclusion, Olga
Tokarczuk (2020) has reminded us of the thing we have been denying so
passionately: that we are delicate creatures composed of the most fragile
material. “We believe we are staying home, reading books and watching
television, but, in fact, we are readying ourselves for a battle over a new
reality that we cannot even imagine, slowly coming to understand that nothing
will ever be the same,” she writes. In the midst of this transition process and
considering the imminent challenges, we must get ready, starting today, by
putting on the table a strategic plan and proving that from this day forward,
we will go on learning and being liberated from, anyhow, broken ideological
impasses.
References:
Anastasatos T et al. (2020) Economy & Markets – The Eurobank Research Bulletin. The Greek Economy in 2020: Impact from the COVID-19 crisis and Outlook. April 28. Available from https://tinyurl.com/y8xcqtlw
CNN.gr (2020) Staikouras: I krisi tou koronoiou tha prokalesei yfesi 4% - Pote tha katavlithoun ta 800 evro [Staikouras: the coronavirus crisis will cause 4% recession – when will 800 euro be paid]. April 5. Available from https://tinyurl.com/ybb72kfr
Financial Times (2020) Virus lays bare the frailty of the social contract. 3 April. Available from https://tinyurl.com/qtb3gct
iEfimerida.gr (2020) Staikouras: Yfesi mechri 3% stin Ellada logo koronoiou [Staikouras: Recession up to 3% in Greece because of the coronavirus]. March 26. Available from https://tinyurl.com/y8rzfjv7
ILO (2020) X ILO Monitor 2nd edition: COVID-19 and the world of work, Updated estimates and analysis. April 7. Available from https://tinyurl.com/we9e7oq
IMF (2020) World Economic Outlook, April 2020: The Great Lockdown. Available from https://tinyurl.com/tupbfoo
In.gr (2020) Handelsblatt: Yfesi eos kai 15% (?) fernei i krisi stin Ellada [Handelsblatt: The crisis brings recession of up to 15% (?) to Greece] (republication from Handelsblatt). April 14. Available from https://tinyurl.com/y9llgro7
Interview.com.gr (2020) Recording public opinion on the evolution of COVID-19, April 6-10, 2020. Available from https://tinyurl.com/yad73ru6
Johns Hopkins University & Medicine (2020) Mortality Analyses. 3 May. Available from https://tinyurl.com/ycga9v5d
Ministry of Finance (2020) Stability Programme 2020. April 2020. Available from https://tinyurl.com/yajytw7u
Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (2020) Employment in the Private Sector in a Coronavirus environment, March 2020. Available from https://tinyurl.com/uqoz46z
Morganstein JC et al. (2017) Pandemics: Healthcare Emergencies, Part IV, Chapter 18. Available from https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/textbook-of-disaster-psychiatry/pandemics-health-care-emergencies/478824C480288A8935798FBF151D96FA
National Bank of Greece (2020) Central government net borrowing requirement on a cash basis: January-February 2020. March 13. Available from https://tinyurl.com/y7u4aagg
National Kapodistrian University of Athens (2020) Oi Ellines kai o Koronoios: Mia chora se synthikes protognores [Greeks and coronavirus: A country in unprecedented situation]. Department of Communication & Media, March 29 – April 23. Available from https://tinyurl.com/yagmo26g
OECD (2019) Health at a Glance 2019: OECD Indicators. OECD Publishing, Paris. Available from https://doi.org/10.1787/4dd50c09-en
Protothema.gr (2020) Staikouras: Ligo pano apo 0% i anaptyxi stin Ellada to 2020 [Staikouras: Just above 0% growth in Greece in 2020]. March 18. Available from https://tinyurl.com/yblfcuaq
Star TV (2020) O yfypourgos dimosionomikis politikis sto STAR gia ta nea metra [Finance State Secretary talks to STAR about new measures]. 20 March. Available from https://tinyurl.com/tychzyg
Strazewski L (2020) What’s ahead on COVID-19? Expert offers forecast for summer, fall. American Medical Association, 6 April. Available from https://tinyurl.com/uq699vf
Tokarczuk O (2020) A new world through my window. The New Yorker, April 8. Available from https://tinyurl.com/tc7a2jf
UniCredit (2020) UniCredit Economics Chartbook Q2 2020. The mother of all recessions has arrived. Available from https://tinyurl.com/vgewanw