Incentives Rebuilding Greece Post Economic Collapse

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After the global financial crash of 2008, Greece was hit hard. What followed became known throughout the country simply as The Crisis (Η Κρίση). It wasn’t just an economic collapse—it was a wave of sudden reforms and deep austerity that touched nearly every household. People lost jobs, income, homes. A humanitarian crisis unfolded quietly alongside the financial one.

The recession that followed turned out to be the longest ever recorded for any developed, mixed economy. By 2013, Greece’s stock market had fallen so far that the country was reclassified as an emerging market—a symbolic blow to a modern European nation.

The fallout ran deep. Politics fractured. Social safety nets frayed. Many of the country’s brightest minds—young, educated Greeks—packed up and left in search of stability elsewhere. Most have returned now.  Scars remain, woven into the landscape and the culture but strength from what has been endured does too. 



Today what can be seen when traveling Greece is evidence of change in the direction of economic growth which seems intentionally directed. For example, Greece is one of just a couple of countries who still have a Golden Visa Program in which one can buy residential property as a pathway to citizenship, there’s also a new program being launched in which one can invest in Greek businesses with a limit of less than 33% ownership. 

Traveling Greece one sees palatial modern estates mixed in with tattered falling down houses from generations past (which can get one on the golden visa path if you repair it). They stand next to one another. There are countless spec houses and condos being promoted that advertise that they’re a fit for Golden Visa. Some employ lawyers and included the price of citizenship in the cost of the home. 




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