In 2002, with the establishment of the euro as the country's currency by the then government, the Greek economy was completely unprepared for such a dangerous venture: the adoption of a foreign currency to replace the national currency, the drachma. In the following three years, consumer prices more than doubled (while popular incomes increased by only 17%), and unemployment rose to 15% of the active population (575,000 unemployed). The public debt officially reached 210 billion euros or 124% of the Gross National Income, and the annual deficit was 6% of GDP (2004), attracting the supervision of the European Commission and increasing the cost of borrowing for the Greek government. The corrosive impact of the euro continues unabated on the Greek economy. It undermines social cohesion by marginalizing entire populations and regions (e.g., tobacco producers and Western Macedonia) and devalues domestic products in the international market (e.g., agriculture, textiles, tourism, etc.). Many small and medium-sized enterprises are closing, private capital is leaking abroad, and the cost of labor per unit of product is rising at more than twice the rate of the Eurozone, as even the governor of the Bank of Greece admitted on 11.11.2004...