Dear Editor,

Portia was rather envious of Greece’s debt write-off two years ago, but would she agree to being displaced by a yet-to-be-formed more radical (left wing) party which opposes austerity?

Austerity is self-defeating with regards to reducing the debt because it is antithetical to the strong growth that is also needed. Greece’s economy may have been recovering in macroeconomic terms under the policies of the previous Administration; but only very slowly, with the poor who have suffered being at the very end of the line of those who may eventually benefit. Similarly in Jamaica.

It is indeed ironic that the USA and Europe reacted to the challenges following the 2008 financial meltdown with just the opposite (expansionist) policies. Smaller economies were not permitted the same privilege. Of course, the new approach in Greece will face enormous challenges, not the least of which will be deliberate sabotage. But also will be paying public sector wages and pensions out of current taxes without further borrowing — a problem that could lead to the unravelling of the support for the Syriza party and its leader Alexis Tsipras.

In Jamaica, with the large primary budget surplus (excess of taxes collected against spending on services) this latter concern would not, in fact, have a material basis provided a debt-servicing moratorium was implemented, pending a comprehensive debt audit to establish which parts of the debt are legitimate and which are odious.

Yanis Varoufakis (Syriza’s likely new finance minister) has said that, along with restructuring the debt, the other priorities will be ending the humanitarian crisis in Greece, attacking the Greek oligarchy, and renegotiating economic policies with the governments of other Eurozone countries and the IMF. The Greek oligarchy/plutocracy has continued to pull the strings of government policy, as well as making large profits from government contracts and hands-off regulation and taxation policy.

Our banks in Jamaica play a similar role, naturally of course because, along with the IMF, which largely represents overseas creditors, the banks largely represent the local creditors — who having lived well off government paper too easily and for too long — are reluctant to give up their advantage which comes from the ‘ordinary’ taxpayers and citizens that the government was in theory elected to serve.

Paul Ward

Campaign for Social & Economic Justice

Kingston 7

pgward72@gmail.com