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Despite the deep reforms we are making, traders and speculators have forced interest rates on Greek bonds to record highs.

George Papandreou

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George Papandreou
Age: 72
Born: 1952
Born: June 16
Diplomat
Former Prime Minister Of Greece
Politician
Sociologist
St Paul
Minnesota
George Andreas Papandreou
Record
Reforms
Deep
Bonds
Records
Rates
Interest
Forced
Making
Greek
Reform
Speculators
Despite
Highs
Rate
Traders

More quotes by George Papandreou

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I have been supporting the European Union, but we are still a work in progress. We have to become more of a United States of Europe. We should talk about electing a president of the E.U., rather than having one selected from the heads of government.
George Papandreou
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Greece's history in the drachma was an up-and-down history, a roller coaster.
George Papandreou
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Today I want to send a message of optismism to all Greeks. Our road, our path, will be more stabilised. Our country will be in a better situation. We will be stronger.
George Papandreou
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Many people have been pontificating, and patronizing, and moralizing, and scapegoating, saying you Greeks, you are the problem. I would say we Greeks have a problem. We are not the problem.
George Papandreou
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I never thought of politics as a profession.
George Papandreou
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My hope is that we will turn Greece into maybe the most transparent country in the world with everything on the web.
George Papandreou
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In ancient Greece, politics and the market were not decoupled.
George Papandreou
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Greece has great strengths, but much of this potential has been wasted. That's because of a wider political system, but also because of a lack of an institutional framework.
George Papandreou
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The structures in Europe in a globalising economy need to be modernised, need to be more integrated, need to be stronger.
George Papandreou
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If we were going to default, we would have decided that many months ago. It would be wrong for the Greek economy, it would be wrong for the European economy, it would make things worse in the end. That's why we're taking the pain and making these structural reforms, and we're on target.
George Papandreou
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When I was growing up in the United States and Sweden, I never thought about becoming a politician.
George Papandreou
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An elected government making huge changes with the consent of its people, is being undermined by concentrated powers in unregulated markets-powers which go beyond those of any individual government.
George Papandreou
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Unfortunately, corruption is widespread in government agencies and public enterprises.
George Papandreou
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I would like to see Greece as a case study, an opportunity for Europe to strengthen its coordination of fiscal policy.
George Papandreou
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But sovereign debt is a wider question not only in Europe but across the globe. While every country is a unique case, I think it's not an issue of countries acting on their own. We need a more coordinated strategy not only in Europe but around the world.
George Papandreou
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I will always be upfront with the Greek people, so we can solve the country's problems together.
George Papandreou
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Countries are not like financial markets. Social change cannot be executed as swiftly as credit-default swaps. You cannot sell short on social commitments and practical responsibilities.
George Papandreou
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At times of distress, we all like to recall the advice of fathers and mothers. The best advice my father gave me was to keep faith and deep confidence in the potential of the Greek people nurture the belief that they can do things.
George Papandreou
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I think there is a heritage which I’m proud of, which is a fight for democracy, a fight for social justice, a fight for freedom. My grandfather went to jail or exile six times in his life, fighting for his principles for democracy, or for his country. And my father twice.
George Papandreou
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If Greece had gone through a very normal political life, I may have not been in politics. But just the fact that I lived through huge upheavals and very difficult struggles and polarization and the barbarism of dictatorships - that made me feel that we had to change this country.
George Papandreou