The crisis in Greece is much more than an economic crisis: it is the crisis of a certain economic model which has its roots in the last century and which places statism and politics above business and markets. The fundamental structure of Greece has never been civil society but the State. Since the mid-19th century, nothing could be done in Greece without necessarily passing through the machinery of the State.

The Greek social group that became position of power after the liberation from the Ottoman yoke was made up of notables accustomed to recapturing taxes for their former masters. Quickly the control of the state apparatus became the main mechanism of distribution of perks and benefits.

The most important perk was the provision of bureaucratic positions. Thus, it is not surprising that by the end of the 19th century Greece already had the largest bureaucracy in Europe (214 officials per 10,000 inhabitants), far surpassing France (126), the paradigm of centralist statism.

The Greek model is characterized by a high level of political clientelism. At present, the benefits it brings are of three types. First, there is the most coveted benefit of all: access to the civil service. About one million people, that is, one Greek worker in four is a employee of the State.

result The second benefit is the privileges granted to different professional groups, such as lawyers, notaries, truck owners, pharmacists, etc., with the aim of creating closed areas for free skill. The third benefit consists of imposing fees or taxes on certain transactions, the proceeds of which go to groups not directly involved in such transactions.

For example, every time a business is opened, a fee has to be paid to the lawyers' pension fund, or every time a boat is purchased, 10% of its price has to be contributed to the dock workers' pension fund. result More than 70% of Greeks receive some subject income from such levies.

This way of functioning, and of thinking, is deeply rooted in the Greek psyche, in which the old clichés of an old left wing, now long outdated in many other European countries, are still very much alive. Antibusiness, anti-market, pro-state interventionism and "the-blame-for-the-crisis-is-not-ours-but-others'" attitudes are at agenda.

Traditional anti-American, anti-European or anti-German tics are also still very present. All this survives alongside a globalized elite that has been absent from the country for a long time. Many analysts these days argue that Greek society needs a strong dose of modernization and moralization to accompany the economic adjustment.

The saying goes around Brussels -cruel and unfair on the other hand- that after having shaken hands with a Greek, it is advisable to count your fingers in case you miss any. This comes on account of the deception to which the EU Statistical Office has been subjected by the Greek economic authorities, in a vain attempt to disguise the state of ruin in which the Greek public finances find themselves.

At this moment, the magnitude of the Greek macroeconomic disaster and the need for its rescue by the EU and the IMF are on everyone's lips. As far as our payments are concerned, the Spanish government would do well to keep a close eye on the Greek status and to "put its beard to soak", but not even for that...