Exiting the Euro will NOT solve Greece´s problems. An interesting article by Miranda Xafa. As is the case for Spain, competitiveness, productivity, the supply side (not the demand side) and overregulation are the problems.
Exiting the Eurozone would only add to the debt burden without resolving Greece’s competitiveness problem, which stems primarily from regulatory barriers to competition, restrictive labour practices, and red tape that raise the cost of doing business. Greece ranks 100th in the World Bank’s “Doing Business” report and 119th in the Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom, behind several sub-Saharan countries.
Greece is the most highly regulated economy in the OECD. Profit margins or minimum remuneration is set by law in a number of professions (lawyers, engineers, accountants, pharmacists), and licensing requirements impose barriers to entry in others (trucking). It costs less to transport agricultural products from Central America to Greece by ship than it costs to transport them within Greece by truck. Labour contracts set wages on automatic pilot due to seniority clauses and other benefits unrelated to productivity, profitability, or performance. No amount of devaluation will get rid of these distortions.
