Dear friends, good day to you all!
There are statistics that describe reality. And there are statistics that obscure it, as the famous saying goes: “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.”
The UBS Annual Global Wealth Report ranks Greece 30th in the world in terms of average wealth per adult. A figure that, taken in isolation, creates the impression of a prosperous country.
But averages have a flaw: they favor exceptions over the rule.
The same report reveals that the median wealth of a Greek citizen is just over one-third of the average. Simply put, the “typical” citizen is far removed from the picture painted by the average. Real wealth is concentrated in a limited number of households, while for most people, the economic reality is much harsher than the numbers suggest.
So here it is: the two-speed Greece. The Greece of statistics and the Greece of everyday life. So far, we haven’t “learned anything new” from UBS. But there is also a second interpretation.
Greek wealth continues to be based primarily on real estate. Homes remain the major investment for Greek households, while financial products continue to play a limited role compared to other developed economies.
The result is wealth with limited liquidity. It exists, but it is difficult to put to use. It increases net worth, but not necessarily disposable income. This is especially true when we take into account so-called “empty homes.” It offers security, but not always financial freedom. At times, however—as during the years of the bailout memoranda—“it traps” people.
This explains why many Greeks own real estate yet simultaneously feel financially strained. They are wealthy “on paper,” but not necessarily in everyday life.
The paradox becomes even greater when an old Greek malady is added to the mix: tax evasion.
In an economy where part of the wealth is created or concealed outside official channels, inequality is not merely a result of the market. It is also the result of the rules—or, more precisely, their unequal application. The more some people accumulate wealth without bearing their fair share of the public burden, the wider the gap with conscientious taxpayers becomes. And with it, the sense of injustice also grows. A prime example is the absurdity of applying income criteria for the granting of subsidies of any kind in a country where tax evasion is—still—so widespread.
The real message of the UBS report is not that Greece is poor. It is something more complex—and perhaps more alarming.
Greece generates wealth, but it isn’t distributed. It has assets, but a large portion of them remains tied up in unproductive assets. It shows higher averages than those experienced by the majority of its citizens.
In other words, the country appears wealthier than its people feel it is.
This does not change simply through more growth. It changes when wealth becomes more productive, when investments become more outward-looking, when distortions are reduced, and when the same rules apply to everyone.
Because prosperity does not begin when the average rises. It begins when everyday life finally catches up with the statistics. This is something the current government does not seem to have fully grasped, and which, unfortunately, very few in the opposition share.