Europe Must Learn From the Greek Tragedy

Democracy, it is often said, began in Greece — but lately Athens has been struggling to make its invention work well. At elections last Sunday, voters ejected the left-leaning Syriza government led by Alexis Tsipras and turned to Kyriakos Mitsotakis and his conservative New Democracy. Unfortunately, further disappointment seems all too likely. The new leader inherits problems that will be extremely difficult to solve — and that raise questions for Europe as a whole.

Despite an extraordinary depression, during which GDP fell by a quarter and real incomes by much more, growth remains sluggish — too slow to do much about an unemployment rate of 18% and a debt-to-GDP ratio of more than 180%. Coping with such a severe economic setback is difficult enough; requesting patience during a persistently weak recovery might be even harder. The new government’s biggest challenge will be to persuade the country’s voters that New Democracy will live up to its name and attend to their concerns. Given the background, this can hardly be taken for granted.