September 2015 Issue 6142 www.theaccountant-online.com The Accountant EDITOR’S LETTER Tantalized Greece Editor: Carlos Martin Tornero Tel: +44 (0)20 7406 6706 A large number of legendary stories, chron- As if Zeus would have hurled Email:
[email protected] icles and anecdotes from both history and my- his thunderbolt at Greece’s Deputy Editor: Vincent Huck Tel: +44 (0)20 7406 6709 thology could illustrate Greece’s current trag- accounting books. Eureka! Email:
[email protected] edy. The best one, to draw an analogy which There is no unsustainable Reporter: Franchesca Hashemi captures Greece’s burden after the third bailout, debt anymore. The problem is that Greece’s Tel: +44 (0)20 7406 6704 Email:
[email protected] is that of Tantalus. creditors either play dumb or don’t want IPSAS The English verb, tantalize, comes from this themselves; otherwise any bailout should have Contributors: Alex Malley and Nick Dunbar hero’s eternal punishment in the Greek under- been subjected to the condition of using those (comment) world or the Tartarus. As the mythological ac- international standards. The Accountant is a sister publication of International Accounting Bulletin count has it, Tantalus was condemned to stand Well, it happens that governments and poli- in a pool, under a fruit tree. ticians are not always for transparency. Take Group Publisher: Ameet Phadnis Whenever he was thirsty, the water would re- Germany for example, Greece’s biggest single Tel: +44 (0)20 7406 6561 cede; and whenever he was hungry, the branch country creditor.