Economic expert Guntram Wolff detailed the prospects and risks facing Greece in the long run, speaking to DW this week.

Asked if Greece is a special case and different from Spain, Portugal and Ireland, the Brussels-based analyst says:

“You can’t compare Ireland and Greece. Ireland is a modern economy with good labor markets and well-trained workers, and it is a highly attractive location for international businesses. Ireland actually got into trouble because of a real estate bubble and not because of structural economic weaknesses. Once the problem with the real estate bubble had been solved, Ireland returned to the growth path. Greece, on the other hand, has long-term problems with its public finances, the country’s deficits have always been too high and at the same time, Greece has a structurally weak economy. So naturally, you run into problems if you try to sort it all out.

He’s also asked why institutional creditors – the EC, ECB, IMF, the one-time “troika” – didn’t insist on the east Mediterranean country finally creating a land registry (cadastre), amongst others.

http://www.dw.de/you-cant-turn-greece-into-sweden-overnight/a-18276938