The bane of insecurity

Any foreign investor wishing to put his money in the Greek economy will have to overcome all sorts of obstacles. Those who have already tried their luck all share the same big anxiety: They have no idea what’s coming next.

There is indeed a sense of insecurity that renders Greece a very unique and deeply problematic case. Nothing is stable here and nothing can be taken for granted.

A minister can make changes to the tax system simply because he thought it sounded like a good idea at the time. Similarly, a tax officer can interpret a particular law in the way he sees fit. On top of all that, no one really knows when tax violation cases are written off.

Worse, even, authorities often introduce changes that have a retroactive effect in fundamental areas like town planning for example.

Finally, there is always the delays in judicial proceedings. It makes one wonder why a courageous investor would not rather try his luck in one of those reality survival shows on TV.