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The real problem in Greece is not cutting taxes, it's making sure that we don't have tax evasion.

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
Greece
Taxes
Cutting
Sure
Making
Problem
Real
Evasion

More quotes by 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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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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The more there is a European solution to a theoretical, but possible, problem in the markets, the less we will have to talk about an I.M.F. solution.
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Despite the deep reforms we are making, traders and speculators have forced interest rates on Greek bonds to record highs.
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Markets are saying pretty much what I'm saying too: that Greece is doing what it can, but that Greece is not going to be able to carry the weight of all of Europe and the other problems that Europe has.
George Papandreou
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There are certain moments in the history of a nation when the choices made define the decades to come.
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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This idea that you're a successful tough guy if you evade taxes and deceive the state has got to change.
George Papandreou
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We have made major reforms in Greece. When I took over after a landslide victory we had a mandate for change and I knew my major focus would be re-organizing the state.
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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It is important that the Greek people make decisions on important developments.
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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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
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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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How can a parliamentarian or a leader in a country say, on the one hand, that we're going to support Greece but at the same time say that Greeks are lazy?
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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There is this concept of politics as a dirty game.
George Papandreou