Dangerous stagnation

As we shuffle toward elections in the familiar fog of scandals, insults, threats and lies, the picture of the real economy ought to wake politicians and citizens to the magnitude of the country's problems. Without investments, without substantial reforms, without solving chronic problems, the economy will not escape the quagmire. We may even slip back into recession.
Regarding Greece's largest companies, the title of a major PricewaterhouseCoopers report, released yesterday, says it all: "10 Years of Crisis: Smaller but Unreformed Corporate Economy." It noted the resilience of companies but also the heavy cost of a crisis that undermined potential and did not lead to the solution of old problems.
The fact that only one of the top 10 companies of 2008 has disappeared (Marinopoulos) shows that on the surface little has changed. However, the size of the average company is...