Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras used the Acropolis as a backdrop on Thursday evening to announce a program his government has billed as “Greece 2021” -- and with a strategic goal of “fair growth”, as he said in an address broadcast live by state-run television.
The entire event, in fact, was organized at the Acropolis Museum, which celebrates its seventh year of operation, and called in full: “Greece 2021: Fair Growth – Productive Reconstruction”.
In a bid to differentiate what he claimed where previous governments’ interpretation of growth and economic development, which he called “neo-liberal”, Tsipras gave this description of his government’s view on growth:
“For us, growth means inclusion of our economy, anew, in the global division of labor; creation of an economy based on production specialization; healing the wounds of the social state; a wide array of productive activities; cooperative social economy schemes; entrepreneurship that aims at the creation of viable and decently paid jobs.”
In reply, the head of the main opposition New Democracy (ND) party, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, charged that it was, at the very least, ironic for Tsipras to refer to “fair growth… at the very moment when the real economy and society are plagued by extreme tension.”
“Over-taxation leads to an increase in unemployment, and there is no return to any prospect of growth with the policy followed by the government,” he added.
