My regular readers are already familiar with what I like to call BUC

Lately I’ve been mulling over a new one, which applies quite well to the discussions around Greece, but I think is universally applicable – L4

I was speaking with a friend of mine who lives in the States and she was asking me about the view of Greece from Italy, (I’m working from Genova, Italy at the moment) and commented on how the country really needs to get its act in gear and what is wrong with those lazy Greeks who want Germany to endlessly subsidize them.

My ears immediately perked up!  That sounds a lot like L4.

Yes, Greece is a disaster, but having been to the country, (I’m in love with Santorini and Mykonos) and having seen just how hard many of the Greeks work, my ire got up hearing that as the explanation for why the nation is struggling.  Let’s look at the data on just how lazy those Greeks really are.

Data compiled by the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) shows that in 2013, Greece had the second highest number of average annual hours actually worked per worker at 2,037 hours- only Mexico worked more!

How many hours for those diligent, finger-wagging Germans?  1,388 – two thirds the hours that those lazy Greeks worked! The Germans sit at number 34, BEHIND Russia, Ireland, United States, Italy, Portugal, Canada, Spain, Sweden, Belgium, France, Denmark and Norway!  Yes, the average annual hours worked in Germany in 2013 was LESS than Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal!

So what gives?  Why is Greece and for that matter Italy, Spain and France struggling?

There is no easy answer for that, but lets take a quick look at the data.

According to data compiled by the World Bank benchmarked to June 2014, out of 189 countries ranked for ease of doing business, Greece was number 61 while Germany was number 14.  (The lower the number the easier it is.)  Italy sits at number 56, Spain at 33 and Portugal at 25.  For comparison, the United States is number 7.

For getting credit, Greece ranks number 71 while Germany was 23.

For getting electricity Greece ranks 80 while Germany ranks 3.

For enforcing contracts, Greece ranks 155 while Germany ranks 13.

So maybe it isn’t that those Greeks are lazy, stupid or evil.  Maybe they just have government bureaucracy that makes it excruciatingly difficult to earn a living, no matter how hard you work!  As a gentleman named Henry David Thoreau once said in “Civil Disobedience, “That government is best which governs least.”

Or as another fellow for whom I have a rather mad crush said, “Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.”