A new social consensus

The new Greek government seems to be well on its way; it has made some mistakes but they appear to be of secondary importance. To be sure, there are many challenges ahead. Behind the euphoria and optimism there are dangers such as a downturn of the world economy, just as the Greek economy needs to take off, the major challenge of the refugee/irregular migrant issue, and the unpredictable and increasingly bellicose actions of Turkey. Nevertheless, those are dangers which are beyond the powers of the Greek government.

What the Greek government can and should do is to legislate in ways that will improve the life of citizens, attract foreign investment, and repair some of the long-term structural shortcomings of the Greek state. This will require hard work and planning but also judgment in order to avoid creating more problems than are solved. For example, while improving...