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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: FJB who wrote (434040)	7/2/2011 9:33:02 AM
From: Sr K	1 Recommendation Respond to of 794237

NOTABLE & QUOTABLE \| JULY 2, 2011 Notable & Quotable Steve Forbes writing on Greece in the current issue of Forbes magazine. Given its rich mercantile heritage in the Mediterranean, Greece should be the Hong Kong/Singapore/Switzerland of the Balkans. Its emigrants and their descendants have been huge business successes in the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Canada and elsewhere. Yet Greece is bankrupt, fiscally and politically. Why is Greece such a basket case? And what are the implications for Europe and the U.S.? I recently participated in the Greek Power Summit 2011—Helping Greece Rebuild, which was held in Athens. Here's a wee incident that underscores how clueless and irresponsible the Greek government has become. The bulk of attendees at this confab were business and financial executives who are either Greek emigrants or of Greek descent. They went to Athens to size up investment opportunities and offer suggestions on how to bring the failed Greek economy back to life. These executives manage corporate and financial assets in the tens of billions of dollars. Yet the government acted as if they weren't there. Sure, it was teetering, but you'd think that some top ministers—or at least their high-level representatives—might have found a few minutes to make contact with these influential executives and entrepreneurs. Not a chance. . . . Ditto the finance ministry. Leaders of the supposedly conservative opposition? Nowhere to be found. . . . Attending this summit was Krzysztof "Chris" Walenczak, Poland's under secretary of state at the Ministry of Treasury and the man who's been in charge of that country's privatization program for the last two years. . . . Chris shared with us fascinating insights on how Poland has successfully sold off 500 entities, with plans to sell off another 300 fairly soon. But not a single person from the Greek government was there to learn from the Poles' experience . . . And that, in a nutshell, is why Greece is falling apart. Copyright 2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved online.wsj.com