New Left Current for Communist Liberation - 5th CONGRESS
Greek capitalism
Developments in the Greek economy
1. Since 2017, Greek capitalism, relying on the profitability that had already recovered since the SYRIZA government, entered into a process of growth and after the 2019 elections bet on an even better period for it, relying on the New Democracy government, on the growth indicators that had started to move promisingly, on the performance of sectors such as shipping, tourism and construction, on emblematic investments. In this landscape, the problems of Greek-Turkish relations were thorns in the flesh.
The outbreak of the pandemic created a completely new situation. It created problems in the economy, as a number of economic activities were suspended, and temporarily slowed down some reactionary reforms that were on their way. At the same time, the government and capital took advantage of this unprecedented situation and passed a series of anti-worker and reactionary measures. In the phase that followed after the period of pandemic exacerbation, an attempt was made to get the economy moving again with the unbridled growth of tourism as the main vehicle, which has a heavy impact on the workforce, the environment, the cities, the standard of living (contribution to expensive housing), but also on social consciousness.
The war in Ukraine, the intensification of the Greek-Turkish rivalry, combined with the energy insecurity, complicate things even more and move the country away from entering the avenue of rapid "growth", despite the celebrations for the upgrading of the country by international rating agencies (Moody’s etc).
The deeper problems of Greek capitalism over time contribute to shaping the situation of the Greek economy. High public debt, which remains by far the highest in the EU at 170% of GDP, particularly at a time when energy prices and inflation have soared, intensifies the risks for the Greek economy. Private debt has also skyrocketed, approaching 260 billion. Inflation in Greece is slowing after a frenetic upward trend in the previous two years, which literally crushed people's income.
But at the same time the profitability of the most developed sections of capital is really soaring to unprecedented heights. 101 companies listed on the Athens Stock Exchange recorded a spectacular increase in profitability in 2022 (68%), while, according to Bank of Greece data, the net profit share of companies in total for 2022 was 33.2% compared to 24.8% in 2019. High inflation and state support measures, combined with the deepening exploitation of the working class, have boosted capitalist profits. Of these profits, 90% of them are for listed companies, which, along with the increase in profits, highlights the degree of concentration of capital that is developing in Greek capitalism. In the energy sector, the "sky-high profits" of companies are well maintained for 2022: Hellenic Petroleum (Latsis Group) 183%, Motor Oil (Vardinoyannis Group) 378%, Mytilineos Group 178%.
The Banks secured 3.7 billion euros in net profits in 2022, at the same time as 45,000 homes are being auctioned.
Shipowner capital is also booming. The orders for new ships placed by Greek shipowners in 2022 are estimated at 13.5 billion euros, while the profits of only five shipping groups exceeded 1.3 billion dollars in 2022 and are soaring even higher, making the most of the war in Ukraine and pocketing immense profits from the very expensive cargoes of fuel and other products they transport.
Dramatic worsening of the position of workers and the poor people
2. The erosion of wages and pensions together with the exactitude and the unbearable cost of energy has dramatically worsened the position of the working and poor people and accelerated the impoverishment of society. According to the latest available data, in 2022, 20% of workers are paid a gross wage of up to 700 euros, while in total 60% receive a gross wage of less than 1,000 euros.
The combination of rising prices of mainly basic goods, such as energy and food, and very low incomes is pushing up the loss of purchasing power of households .
Precarious employment displace stable and permanent employment relationships. Unemployment remains high.
Working hours are increasing beyond human endurance and at the same time intensification is increasing, while forms that their use is expanding, such as continuous availability, tele-working, etc. All the above increase the rate of exploitation and surplus value extraction to greater heights.
At the same time, high rents are pushing up housing costs to unmanageable heights and putting the right to housing insecure for thousands of people. Thousands of auctions are also in progress, including homes of low-income earners, as their protection period has expired.
The predatory policy of lending and taxation for households and prices of basic goods has led to a surge in debts to banks, the tax authorities and recently unpaid bills, becoming a daily "nightmare" for thousands of workers, households and self-employed freelancers.
At the same time, the plundering of public wealth and the natural environment along with the commercialization of large areas of public land and the privatization/sale of public property and enterprises is proceeding.
The central elements of the bourgeois strategy
3. The central aim of Greek capitalism continues to be the attraction and realization of investment. The maintenance of wages at a low level fully serve this perspective, making Greece an attractive destination for foreign capitalists.
The central elements of the bourgeois strategy in our country for the next period are - apart from responding to the commitments of the EU-IMF memoranda and EU membership - the effort to strengthen the geopolitical position of Greek capitalism in the region, the promotion of reactionary restructuring in social sectors (labour, health, education) and the construction of a "executive state" that will serve capitalist development, while having an even more powerful repressive arm.
The Greek-Turkish antagonism is dangerously intensifying
4. The Greek government, and the bourgeois political system as a whole, is using the war in Ukraine to tie the country more deeply into the NATO camp and to elevate the position of Greek capitalism, putting the people at great risk.
The intensification of the Greek-Turkish rivalry is developing in the wider context of the rivalries of the imperialist blocs and the war in Ukraine. The Greek bourgeoisie attempts to link its effort to recover at home with the effort to upgrade its geostrategic and economic position in the wider region and with the support of the aggressive plans of hegemonic capitalist states and coalitions (USA, NATO, EU). On this basis, the Greek bourgeoisie - and its state - is exploiting its position in the EU and its previous "status" in the region, while seeking to become the spearhead of US and EU policy. The Greek governments (ND now, SYRIZA before) appear as the "good soldier" of NATO and the EU, believing that this way Greek capital will get a bigger piece of the pie of the plundering of the energy looting of the Eastern Balkans. They are turning regions of the country into US-NATO war bases. They are building the reactionary aggressive axis Greece-Cyprus-Israel-Egypt, with the encouragement, participation, supervision of the USA and alliances with reactionary Arab regimes. They promote strategic alliance with the USA and France, increasing participation in imperialist military interventions and missions. Planning pipelines in disputed areas (e.g. East Med), asserting interests and announcing EEZs without agreement and in confrontation with Turkey (and other countries). They promote new unsustainable armaments (Greece remains the 2nd country in NATO in terms of military expenditure as a percentage of GDP).
On the other hand, the Turkish bourgeoisie and its state are seeking to upgrade their role in the wider region, reflecting the dynamic economic growth of recent decades. Turkey is developing into a major regional power with a relatively independent role and strategy, and is emerging as a revisionist power vis-à-vis international agreements. Although its economy is facing very serious problems, it has a strong productive base, has developed a war industry, is taking advantage of its geopolitical position and its relations with the Muslim world. It carries out military missions or invasions in a number of countries (Syria, Iraq, Libya, etc.) and develops relations with Africa. Although a member of NATO, it maintains relations with Russia (it does not participate in the sanctions against it and is trying to play a special role in the war in Ukraine, differentiating itself from the US-NATO line, and has agreed to transport Russian gas from Turkey to Europe). It is escalating its antagonism with the Greek bourgeoisie, even negotiating issues of sovereignty over Aegean islands. The Erdogan government, although it has open fronts at home with the Kurdish people, the labour movement, the militant left and the opposition in general, is adding fuel to the fire of antagonisms.
5. The developments that are taking shape confirm our assessment that the competition between the bourgeoisie classes of Greece and Turkey has a class-exploitative basis and is unfair, reactionary and aggressive on both sides of the Aegean. This antagonism has been sharpened to a dangerous point, with the threat of war looming over the peoples and war preparations developing in both countries. On its territory, a climate of nationalism and racism is being fostered, with the first victims being refugees, who are facing more walls and fences, persecution, deprivation of rights, etc.
At the same time, however, imperialist centres, multinationals and bourgeois parties want some form of negotiation in order to preserve the cohesion of NATO and the exploitation of energy resources and roads for the benefit of capital, at the expense of the peoples and at great risk to the environment.
The workers and peoples of Greece, Turkey and Cyprus must fight against the bourgeois plans and the pursuit of profit, against the dangerous competition as a whole, to defeat the war plans of the governments and the appetites of the multinationals. They must organize their common internationalist struggle for the exit of Greece and Turkey from NATO, the non-accession of Turkey to the EU, the exit of Greece and Cyprus from the EU and the non-accession of Cyprus to NATO.