Moral hazard

It comes as little surprise that the leftist government is taking advantage of that little bit of extra life it was granted by cobbling together a parliamentary majority with various independent MPs in order to push generous reforms that are obviously aimed at a better election result.

It is also no surprise that these initiatives are being pushed forward without any thought for the impact they might have on the struggling Greek economy.

However, measures facilitating taxpayers who have fallen foul of their obligations toward the state and their social security funds, measures that are being introduced as a matter of expediency, without moderation or standards, represent a major moral hazard: They further propagate the widespread belief that the only people who are responsible and honest in Greece are those who are essentially naive.

What we need to know now is whether the opposition has the strength not to be pulled in by such corrosive populism.