Taxpayers get just 1 euro in return for every 4 paid to gov't

For every 4 euros of austerity measures (taxes, social security contributions, pension and benefit cuts) this government has taken since it was voted into power, it has only returned 1 euro, and only to a small section of the population at that.

That 1 euro has been squeezed out of the middle classes with huge taxes and contributions just as confiscations soared, public investments declined and welfare benefits were abolished.

Figures show that besides the tough measures amounting to 9.5 billion euros, the government has also slashed public investments by 1.8 billion euros, which is likely to reach up to 2.3 billion in total to allow for the distribution of handouts worth 3 billion euros over four years.

In 2016 the government decided to reduce the Public Investments Program by 446 million euros to finance the "social dividend" handouts of 717 million euros....