From the Rise to Power to the Accession to the EMU: The Economic Policy of PASOK (1981–2001)

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the economic policy of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) in Greece from 1981 to 2001. The analysis will take place into the two periods that PASOK was in power, which also seem to have different characteristics: the period of ‘change’ (1981–1989) and the period of adaptation (1993–2001). The first period was characterized by the divergence between a Keynesian expansionist policy, marked by demand stimulation and enhanced state participation in economic activities, and an international economic environment, which, due to the reversal of the conditions of accumulation in the previous period, became increasingly negative for such policies. In the second period, PASOK again played a leading role in the country’s economic development. However, this time, the economic policy was characterized by a major shift in orientation as the socialist party focused on the context of the obligations arising from the Maastricht Treaty due to the fact that at this period Greece was to join the European and Monetary Union (EMU). Thus, the main features of PASOK’s economic policy were the limitation of state’s participation in the economy, macroeconomic stabilization, privatizations and the liberalization of the market.