Notice-I didn’t say ECU, I said EU.
I think that it was:
-before entry, Greece had a thriving economy of small manufacturers. Because Greece could set its own tariffs, it was able to keep these businesses viable. Now, under EU rules, it had to open its markets to large manufacturers in FRance, Germany-the small Greek firms got killed
-adopting EU standards caused the cost of Greek labor to skyrocket, and also raised the price of all services-this means that a hotel room in Greece costs much more than one in Croatia or Turkey-so Greek resort businesses got hammered.
-Greece had a huge “underground” economic sector-this employed many people-and most of it is gone now
Greek entry into the EU benefited mostly the rich, and large Greek firms. But it was a disaster for small and mid-sized firms, which are nable to compete.
Add in the euro, and I see a situation that is not too good.
What do you say?