Greece used to be in the news a lot. There were riots in the streets; it was an economic basket case; and the far-left Syriza party took over in 2015. But it’s been pretty quiet on the Greece front lately, and over the weekend the center-right New Democracy party won 40 percent of the vote in the latest elections and will form a new government.
So how has Greece been doing under the austerity regime forced on it by Germany and the rest of the EU? Here’s the answer:
Things are improving but still pretty grim. GDP is finally rising a bit, but still hasn’t reached even its 2003 level, let along surpassed it. Wages have stopped falling, but have been dead flat for the past five years. And although unemployment is down considerably from its peak, it’s still at around 19 percent. Overall, it looks like Greece is finally digging itself out from its hole, but it’s going to be a very long, very grinding road back to actual health.
In other words, just what everyone predicted.
