18/6/2012: Told ya so... Greek tax collection slumps during elections

Yesterday, I commented that during the elections, Greeks have stopped pushing through austerity measures so as not to aggravate the electorate. When challenged to explain what I meant I said that during the elections, Governments pay their debts to businesses on time, pay suppliers on time, stop enforcement actions on taxes due and stop tax reforms. Here it the confirmation that this has happened: link. Note Novotny saying that Greek tax collection is virtually halted during elections and will now be restarted and recent austerity measures are said to add hundreds (if not thousands) of unexpected euros to tax bills.

Update 25/6/2012: this just in - Greece exceeded targets for hiring civil servants and effectively suspended structural adjustments for two months during elections (link).