True, but let's keep in mind that they managed a primary surplus despite this huge tax avoidance. This actually should make everyone bullish on Greece: These are not insurmountable problems. I still think that ΣΥΡΙΖΑ is the first party ever that would be fully willing to implement the right reforms (e.g. collecting taxes, etc.) if - and only if - the EU gives Greece a future by restructuring debt. It makes me sad to observe that the so-called institutions let this opportunity pass for stupid reasons (As far as I can tell, the fear of the German/French parties of their electorate and the fear of the established parties in the 'periphery' of newcomers like Podemos). It was the best shot we had to make real progress in Greece, imho.
I doubt very much anyone is going to be bullish on Greece. They lent Greece money on the condition they stop deficit spending and guess what, Greece didn't do it.
They did and it has destroyed their economy. That's the whole problem.
From reading on about how Greeks avoid taxes pretty publicly and blatently[1], this is more than a generational issue. It seems like it's buried deep in the culture now.
"A 32-year-old chef in Athens says his income taxes are automatically deducted from his monthly paychecks. But every time he buys something and is given an option to pay less if he doesn’t ask for a receipt, he says yes."
[1] http://www.wsj.com/articles/greece-struggles-to-get-citizens...
In Italy they have Finance Police: when you buy something, you MUST hold onto the receipt until a few hundred meters away from the store. Some Italians may be able to shed more light, as I've only ever seen them operate in Rome and never in Florence or Venice.
However that's a generational change: Greece can't and won't be fast enough to do this and will never be able to meet it's creditors. Greece shouldn't have been admitted into the Euro in the early 2000s, this is now the result of that unwise decision.