George Alogoskoufis

George Alogoskoufis (Greek: Γιώργος Αλογοσκούφης) (born October 17, 1955) is a Professor of Economics at the Athens University of Economics and Business since 1990. He was a member of the Hellenic Parliament from September 1996 till October 2009 and served as Greece's Minister of Economy and Finance from March 2004 till January 2009. During 2004-2008 Greece's economic performance seemed extremely positive. The average growth rate was 4% per annum, unemployment fell from 10.5% in 2004 to 7.7% in 2008 just changing the way of measuring it, and public debt increased from 180 bil euro to 300 bil euro. Alogoskoufis initiated a number of policy reforms, such as the simplification of the Greek tax system such as revoking inheritance taxes for rich people, extensive privatisations, create 700 new government institutions to hire more people to the public section, export promotion, public/private partnerships etc. His supporters point out that problems for the Greek economy appeared after Alogoskoufis was replaced as minister, at the end of 2008, and especially after the change in government in October 2010. These problems appeared because of structural weaknesses in the Greek economy, such as the high public debt that was accumulated during the 1980s, the financial crisis and the partial reversal of the policies that Alogoskoufis pursued, by his successors.Data on the European Economy