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INTERNATIONAL

Interview with

George

Papaconstanti "nou

Former Greek Minister of Finance, and author of

Game Over: The inside Story of the Greek Crisis

Last autumn we had the pleasure and really knowing all the difficulties of
the honour to meet with the former political life. I never imagined that I
Greek Minister of Finance, George GEORGE PAPACONSTANTINOU would be involved in all the political
Pap aconstantinou, when he was at battles, and even less of the crisis of
the United Nations in Geneva, to 2009.
present his book, Game over: The In- So you enter into this world, with
We all remember the shockwaves of GAME obviously some kind of naïveté,
side Story of the Greek Crisis.
about what this is going to be. In

non-professional politician, some-
the Greek debt, the bailouts and the particular this was my case, as a
waves of protests that this created all OVE R body who did not rise through the
over Europe. George Papaconstanti- ranks in the political parties, and
nou became the bad guy. He was un- who had done other things before,
fortunate enough to be the Minister with a sense of public service.
of Finance at the time the Greek bub- THE INSIDE STORY
ble economy burst. The errors had Q: Being a graduate from prestig-
OF THE GREEK CRISIS
accumulated over decades. The eco- ious universities, such as the Lon-
nomic growth was a result of loans, don School of Economics, why did
and not of sustainable economic you join the socialist party? One
growth. Sooner or later the bubble might think that you would be
had to burst. It did eventually, and the one who became more inclined to be a conservative.
blamed for it was, George Papaconstantinou.
Simply because I believe in social justice. I think that a
It was definitely a very tough time for him and his family. combination of a free-market economy where, where you
He took responsibility for something he had not created, have a strong emphasis on equity, trying to combine so-
and started to do his best to clear it all up. Through his cial initiative and opportunity for all, is what makes me
book, Game Over, we get the inside story of what really tick as a person. I was never a member of the party as
happened. It seems unbelievable, and this is a breath-tak- such. I came into the policy area, and then I presented
ing story of an incredible period, told for the first time myself to the elections. I became a member of the party
not by an outside observer, but by one of its protagonists, very late in the game.
We leave it up to you all to get a copy of his book and read
the story. Now we leave the floor to Mr Papaconstanti- Q: You had the terrible job of clearing up, and became
the scapegoat for all the errors done before. What did
nou, who kindly accepted to grant us an interview,
this give to you on a personal level?
Q: Having been at your book presentation, and listened You know the expression, what does not kill you makes
to what you have gone through, I wonder what makes you stronger. It was an absolutely unique experience of
a brilliant economist from the London School of Eco- course, and a very difficult one. Each experience teaches
nomics and a Ph.D. in the same field, go into politics in you things, and this one taught me so much.
the first place?
If you are interested in policy-making, and this has al- I think perhaps that the most important lesson, on a
ways been my case, you start working with policy issues. purely personal level is to know your own strengths and
Then, at a certain moment, you start to wonder if you limits, and how you can overcome them. You also realize
should get more actively involved rather than just writing who stands by you in a difficult moment and who does
about it. That was what I did about 16 years ago, without not. So in the end, you become so much wiser afterwards.

22 DIVA - INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMAT