Restarting Greece

Secular Stagnation of Total Factor Productivity Growth and the Greek Innovation System

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Abstract

In 2008, the crash of the housing market bubble lead not only to the collapse of the U.S financial system, but also to a Global Financial Crisis. The Eurozone was hurt, and the impact was not uniform. The “sick periphery”, and in particular Greece, still suffer from the consequences of this crisis. After three adjustment programmes and €293 billion in financial assistance, Greece is weakened and left in stagnation. The country is aging, and if this reality does not change in the coming years, we will not be talking about a lost decade, but about a lost generation, and even worse, a lost nation. When we observe stagnation in economic growth, we should examine carefully the slowdown of TFP growth. Consequently, we investigate whether there was a long-run slowdown of TFP growth in the Greek economy and what are the other contributing factors that can explain this decline. On this basis, we will propose policies and strategies to the Greek government and private sector for a new and effective National Innovation System.