Defense Spending and Political Calculations

Over the past weeks, Greece, like the rest of the world, has one eye on the ongoing war with Iran and is looking to see what this ongoing crisis, which continues to shake markets, will mean for the global economy. For Greece, these concerns include rising prices, the country’s dependence on imported gas and oil, and the possible impact this could have on the tourism sector as a prolonged crisis could affect  the upcoming summer season. 

This has prompted Prime Minister Mitsotakis to announce a package of support measures early this week that seeks to address many of these concerns, especially the rising cost of fuel.

Nikos Vettas, John Psaropoulos, and Yiannis Tsakalos join Thanos Davelis as we take a closer look at how the ongoing crisis in the Middle East is impacting Greece’s overall economic outlook, what steps the government is taking in response to this crisis, and what this could mean for Greece’s tourism sector as tourists factor wider global uncertainty into their travel plans.

Taking us to our “I am HALC” segment, this week we’re putting the spotlight on Jonathan Vasdekas. Jon walked through HALC’s doors in 2013, and since then has distinguished himself not only as a leader in the Greek-American community, where he was part of HALC's original class of Leadership 2030 fellows, but as a recognized leader in the energy sector. After stints with major players like Invenergy and Ørsted, where he worked on major renewable energy projects, he now serves as Executive Vice President of Development at Linea Energy. 

A little more info on our guests:

Nikos Vettas is the general director of Greece’s Foundation for Economic and Industrial Research (IOBE) and a professor economics and business at Athens University.

John Psaropoulos is an independent journalist and Al Jazeera's correspondent in southeast Europe. He publishes Hellenica, a weekly deep dive into Greek current affairs and history that you can find on Substack.com.

Yiannis Tsakalos is a professsional with over 30 years of experience in tourism and hospitality. He has worked extensively with hotels and destinations across Greece, and played a key role in shaping tourism strategy at a national level, including contributing to the strategic planning of the Greek National Tourism Organization and the Ministry of Tourism during COVID, helping define the direction of the sector for the years that followed.

You can support The Greek Current by joining HALC as a member here.