This week, the Greek government of Alexis Tsipras announced with great fanfare that Greece had exited its bailout and that it had regained, finally, the freedom to pursue its own economic and social policies.
But is this true?
For The Real News, I spoke yesterday to former Syriza MP Costas Lapavitsas. Costas Lapavitsas is currently a Professor of Economics at the University of London. In 2015, after Prime Minister Tsipras disregarded the historic result of a Greek referendum on austerity, Professor Lapavitsas defected from Syriza to the newly formed Popular Unity Party.
As he explains in this interview, despite Greece’s official exit from the bailout, the Greek government will remain shackled by debt and austerity for years to come. Moreover, the structure of Greece’s economy has not fundamentally changed, but its productive capacity has been severely degraded by austerity.
Our conversation can be seen and heard here:
https://therealnews.com/stories/greece-exits-its-bailout-but-remains-shackled-by-debt-and-austerity
