Greece managed the transition to democracy after the fall of the military dictatorship in 1974 in admirably smooth fashion, with the conservative governments of the 1970s and the socialist governments of the 1980s making income redistribution a priority.
But while political stability improved, Greece saw two decades of poor economic performance. Inflation was much higher and GDP growth lower than the European Union average. The political cycle was largely to blame, producing high fiscal deficits and debt.
