The Selling of the World: Privatization Schemes Proliferate
Selling the family silver (photo: Jenica26)
One of the more revealing elements of the Greek bailout discussions is not that the IMF and European finance ministers want another round of austerity from Greece before providing funding, and not even that banks are being urged to take haircuts or engage in restructuring to accommodate the Greeks. It’s that other element – privatization of state assets – that is the tell here. This is the real extraction from the Greeks, the real shock doctrine scheme at work here. Greece essentially must sell the family silver – their ports, their state-run water supply systems, their utility company, their telephone company – to get out of the mess created largely by the financial crisis and the Great Recession. This deal was already done back in May, and clearly was the most important piece of the puzzle for Greek creditors.
Prime Minister George Papandreou announced an immediate sale of state assets on Monday evening, including its shares in the telecom operator OTE and the ports of Piraeus and Thessaloniki.
Following a cabinet meeting, Papandreou announced 1.6 billion euros ($2.3 billion) in savings along
