Economic Development of Greece Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Economic Development of Greece - Essay Example Economic development attempts to find the reasons behind the labour differences between countries or it may analyse why certain countries have higher levels of foreign investments compare to others. (Gills, 1996) Government policies normally involve efforts made by the government of the day to improve overall economic indicators. Governments can do this with the aim of reducing high unemployment rates, increasing their tax rates, instituting stable prices within the economy or expanding the tax rates. Governments can achieve this through tax policy adjustments, regulating their financial institutions and changing their fiscal policies for the better. Infrastructural policies on the other hand normally involve the use of programs aimed at making public services and infrastructure better. This is done through building affordable houses, introducing better educational facilities, reducing crime rates, building roads and many others measures./ Lastly, economic development can also be achieved through employment creation. Governments normally need to direct their efforts towards specific industries in any of the following areas; marketing, business expansion, business retention, real estate development, finance, technology transferred among other things. (Todaro, 1997) During the decade 70s, The Greek government em... They started with the introduction of uranium exploitation efforts in the northern part of their country. Their mission was to develop this sector so that they could reduce their inflation rates. Additionally, the Greek government wanted to improve their financial status through this project. By developing their natural resources, the country would curb the need to import some of these minerals and they would also get an outlet for generating more revenue. Greece was endowed with a number of resources. First of all, the country had oil reserves; secondly, it was rich in lignite. But before the seventies, Greece was not taking full advantages of these two mineral resources. The government passed laws that would facilitate greater exploitation of those minerals. These aggressive measures caused decreased balance of payments and inflation rates. This is because the country minimised its dependence on imports and substitute these with its own products. In relation to this, Greece decided that their currency would not be measured against the United States dollar. Proponents of this change claimed that they were trying to make their local currency stronger. On top of this, it was also supposed to include other development partners in the Greek currency. The decision to de-link the US dollar from their currency was made in the year 1975. (Embassy of the United States, 2007) In the next decades (1980s and 90s), the Greek government decided to move towards privatisation. In the early nineties, these efforts paid off, the country recorded a Gross Domestic Product of thirteen and fifteen percent. That period of time saw the transformation of twenty eight companies from public to private institutions. At that time, the government tried to