What did you expect what happens when you "annex" a former communist country and change its form of government ?
recent numbers by muncipality: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Arbeitslosigkeit_2011-10.png

And when was it that you began to rehabilitate trolls?

How come u liked it better in the UK than Spain? Just curious. If I was a spaniard I wouldn't leave Spain with such nice culture, landscapes and weather and stuff, including chicks.

Of ccourse socialism is not the only factor to consider but it can be an issue since market liberalization is determined by laws which are determined by the parlament. If you had for many years, like in Italy, left wing socialist parties and socialism-oriented labour unions going agaist labour market liberalization laws and sustaining unproductive government employees with excessive protections (to a point where getting fired is almost impossible) then, as a result, you have a very rigid labor market and very unefficient public services.

It's not just the minimum wage. Pension cuts, Supplement pension cuts (fourth time in 2011!), estates tax increase (3rd time in 2011), VAT increase, Cigarette tax increase, unemployment wage decrease, etc

Decreasing minimum wage by itself cannot lower unemployment. Greece has so few factories and producing capabilities, who will hire all those people, even at low wages? Mark my words, these "austerity measures" WILL kill what's left of the Greek economy...

Some people have had their income slashed by 40-50% already! Stores and services have had their income reduced more than 70% (myself included). Can someone please tell me why we Greeks have it so hard while Portugal and Ireland haven't had so heavy measures forced onto them?

It's like everyone holds a grudge on Greece for some reason...

Wouldn't you if you already had your income cut by more than 40-50% already while our useless polititians got raises? You have to understand that most people here in Greece, know that we all had our share in our deficits, but only few bear the burden still, thus the riots.

And what would you do if aforementioned polititians did nothing for the best of your country? We have the strongest negotiation "card" in the world ATM. A Greek disorderly default could potentialy destroy the entire global economic system! Wouldn't you haggle more?

I'm not saying that we should blackmail the EU, but the measures could have been a bit smoother and fair overall. On  top of that, all of Europe tags us as useless, lazy and EU cancer!

I don't disagree with you. While it is clear that change is necessary, the people all running around cheering "let's go austerity!" seem to forget what it's like to lose your job (or be like me, a well-qualified college student looking down the barrel of a grim fricking job market). There is a human price to neoliberalism, and that price always seems to fall upon those who can least afford it, rather than the well-off.

That is very sad, and the same thing happens in Brazil.

The people don't want to create anything in Brazil, they just want public jobs, where they don't do anything useful and earn a lot of money. This way, they already started destroying the country.

Good post and Denmark is a great example of having both a well developed socialist state and a liberal labor market. When talking german unemployment quotes you should never forget the costs of reunification, though. After 1989 economy in former east Germany basically imploded - they simply couldn't compete. Since then unemployment in the new german states has been roughly twice as high (11.3% vs 6.0% in 2011) than unemployment in the western parts. (Check out this link: http://www.spiegel.de/flash/flash-12125.html ) 

And I totally agree with the last line. A liberal labor market and a socialist welfare state actually complement each other in some ways.

Well, where I come from in Spain the weather is not that good, it rains much more than in London, though we also get many more sunny days. I like London because it is such a blend of cultures. This also has a lot of cons, but in here I've been able to meet many interesting people.

But mostly it's just a personal thing. I come from a working class family in Spain and my mum had no money to afford a flat so we were living with my grandma (after getting two degrees and a masters my mum finally got a good job and she's saving a lot now, but she works in Central America and has no flat in Spain). I lived in a quiet town in the suburbs of my city. I couldn't take that anymore, so I went for independence, and what can give me more independence from a previous life tha living abroad? The UK was the perfect choice because learning the language was an opportunity for me and obviously because, being European, I didn't need any paperwork to live and work. I came with 400 pounds with an Easyjet flight, and I'm happy of my decission. Now I am fluent in English, I have a degree in London, a lot of savings for someone my age, and a Japanese fiancée.

And now I'm ready to move on to something else. I guess I don't like doing the same thing for too long.

Wow. They are well and truly fucked.