Former Prime Minister of Greece George Papandreou shared his experiences and challenges during his time in office, as well giving his take on the US economy, when he appeared as a guest on Bloomberg TV.
“What can Washington learn from your experience in Athens?” was the journalist’s first question, while in the caption below, viewers could read: “Is America the new Greece?”
According to what George Papandreou said from Baltimore, “there is not an inherent problem in the US economy” but, in his opinion, the problem there is simply political. Papandreou supported that this political problem of the US poses a problem around the world, as it questions the credibility of America. “When I was facing the problem with the markets, I had three deficits; one was the budget deficit; two was the current account deficit, and the third was the credibility deficit. My worst problem was the credibility deficit.”
The ex Prime Minister of Greece during the first years of the crisis asked for a referendum in order to gain a wider consensus, this however, ended up in a “political coalition.”
When Papandreou mentioned a referendum, it provoked a laugh from Bloomberg’s presenter who responded “You are killing me Prime Minister, a referendum here would be like the last straw.”
About the US, Papandreou said that “I think the main issue is how do you give your citizens a voice about the political issues.” Although he didn’t directly offer a referendum as a solution for the U.S., he placed emphasis on the importance of people being heard. “Sometimes you find more sanity in the citizens,” he said.
You can watch the video below:
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