Σε ένα νοσηρό περιβάλλον ανούσιων αντεγκλήσεων και αφορισμών, το οποίο έχει σκεπάσει όχι μόνο τον mainstream δημόσιο λόγο αλλά και την μπλογκόσφαιρα, οι ιδεολογικές ταμπέλες έχουν για μια ακόμα φορά υψώσει τεχνητά τείχη μεταξύ των υποκειμένων, με βασικό αντικειμενικό αποτέλεσμα η δημόσια συζήτηση και, κατ' επέκταση, η άσκηση πολιτικής (με τη γενικότερη έννοια, που συμπεριλαμβάνει την αντιπολίτευση, τον συνδικαλισμό κλπ) να παραμένει υπόθεση ατόμων και φορέων που εκπροσωπούν μειοψηφικές απόψεις και συμφέροντα, και να ακολουθεί την πεπατημένη διαφόρων αυτόματων πιλότων. Ο Αρίστος Δοξιάδης δημοσίευσε μία μελέτη που επιχειρεί να αναλύσει την συγκεκριμένη πραγματικότητα της ελληνικής οικονομίας, και να προτείνει λύσεις με βάση αυτήν. Η μελέτη αξίζει να διαβαστεί ολόκληρη· παραθέτω ένα απόσπασμα, όπου αναλύει τις δυνατότητες ανάπτυξης της μικρο-επιχειρηματικότητας:
2.2.3 Path 3 (Growth): Growth of micro-businesses.
The numbers are large here. Even a small increase in the average number of employees per
micro-business would make a big impact, on condition that the businesses produce
competitive products.
Very few specific provisions in the Memorandum support this path. Reforms in collective
bargaining as negotiated with the Ministry of Employment will not affect businesses of
under 50 employees, which shall still be bound by industry-wide contracts. Non-wage labor
costs remain as high as ever. The personal liability of business owners for failure is very high,
especially in small businesses. Personal income tax rates, which are most relevant for
businesses of a few employees, are prohibitive to growth (low corporate tax rates for
retained earnings are not relevant for micro business). All this must change, if enough micro-
business are to grow.
Equally, or more, important, would be a radical reduction of transaction costs. Not only is
the Greek environment extremely bureaucratic, but small firms also face inherently more
transaction costs, proportionately to their size, than bigger firms that have internalized
many transactions. They also have fewer resources to deal with bureaucracy, which means
that entrepreneurs spend an exorbitant proportion of their energy on this. Because standard
international “structural” prescriptions are weighted more to the needs of bigger firms,
eliminating such costs receives much less attention in the Memorandum than it should.
Ideally, in a friendly institutional environment, one would see in the agricultural sector
farmers combining small plots into larger viable businesses, by leasing or by cooperation. In
workshops, some innovators would hire associates to produce more sophisticated specialist
products or components. Some freelance application developers would grow into
employers. Services for tourists and for foreigners living in Greece would become more
innovative and organized, making the offerings more attractive; and so on.
