Pericles and Fiscal Crises in Greece

The Greeks have a lot of history to guide them through their current fiscal crisis.

Infighting among political rivals, all tied up in several city-states dotting the coasts of the Aegean, The Peloponnesian war bankrupted Greece's strongest army -- Sparta, and the strongest Navy -- Athens. Of course, Macedonian King Phillip routed the whole Hellenic assembly, later ushering in the megalomania of tyrant-playboy Alexander the Great.

Pericles of Athens' Golden Age actually considered making off with the gold in the Parthenon, a move which modern Greek politicians have mulled symbolically. Except instead of trying to pawn off the gold and silver of the Goddess of Wisdom and Democracy, the modern Greeks want to rent out the Parthenon as a tourist and photo-op attraction. Perhaps Nia Vardalos can ride her decade-old “Big Fat Greek” fame to another movie production.

However, instead of pondering the dusty works of Thucydides, the Papademos government should peruse the modern work "Ancient Greece: a political, social, and cultural history" by Sarah Pomeroy, a work which documents the first political amnesty in human political history. This noble example of national "letting bygones be bygones" followed a bloody insurrection that had ousted the Oligarchy from the ancient city-state. Agreeing to bury the hatchet over long-term political rivalries, rival factions in the grand amnesty concluded the whole matter by removing one day out of the Athenian calendar (like printing September first, omitting the Second, then continuing with the Third). Celebrations would ensure for years after, in which Athens feted the fact that they were actively forgetting the stasis which had buffeted the democratic order of the people.

An en masse economic amnesty of similar magnitude would release Athenians and the European Union from the chronic, colic bailouts which have not staved off the pain of the people or their government. The only other example in recorded history of such blanket forgiveness is the Year of Jubilee instituted among the Israelites, recorded in the Law of Moses. Every fiftieth year, all debts were canceled, all slaves were set free, and all land reverted back to their original owners. This release guaranteed an economy which flowed in spite of ongoing debt and privation instituted as the necessary residual of free markets.