Al Jazeera claims to have shammed suggestions Greeks are lazy and greedy, especially in the outset of the country’s 2008 recession, leading to its current economic woes.
On its online program Reality Check, host Mehdi Hasan says claims of Greeks being lazy are untrue.
According to his report, in 2008 – the year of the Greek economic crash – Greeks worked an average of 42 hours per week, compared to 36 and 37 in Germany and the United Kingdom respectively.
Meanwhile, Greeks currently receive 26 days of paid leave per annum compared to 30 and 28 days in Germany and the United Kingdom respectively.
Whilst Greece topped pension spending in Europe according to a percentage of its GDP, it is much lower on the spending per pensioner scale, when compared with other European nations.
“The truth is that the bulk of the damage done to Greece isn’t the fault of its people, it’s the fault of austerity, implemented on the instruction of Angela Merkel and her allies,” Hasan says.
Apparently leaked IMF documents were used to support the argument.