All of Europe is seeking to take measures which will restore liquidity in the market so that people can borrow money to buy a house, expand their business, make an investment etc. They are also trying to strengthen the social net and make sure those citizens losing their jobs are not alone, that they will be helped in their job search, that they will be given some kind of opportunity to make it through this very difficult patch. At the ministry of employment and social protection we are spending over 3 billion euros between 2007-2013 in funding a variety of programs aiming to boost employment, increase social cohesion, train and help the workforce retool. Unemployment went down from 11.3% in 2004 to 7.8% in 2008. And the intention is to use all our tools and all our policies to help keep it as low as possible given the circumstances. Since we are not an industrial nation, tourism is one of our most important economic sectors, we are taking the steps required to deal with potentially declining tourist numbers for the summer of 2009. Construction is also very important so we have numerous large scale public works underway which are being built through public private partnership. These projects will help the construction industry. We are all hoping that the crisis will not last as long as some fear but at the moment the top issues in every government agenda are the economy, the economy and again the economy.

The Obama presidency

The new President ran a very inspiring campaign full of hope and a chance to start anew. People wanted that, people needed that, people voted for that. The economy is the number one priority for him and for every other government in the world today. I think that Greece and the US have been strong friends and allies, have worked together over the years and can work very constructively in the future. If there is mutual respect and understanding I am sure that much work will be done to benefit both countries and our region. For the moment, I wish him all the best and all the luck in the world. I hope that he will be able to stay focused because economic recovery is the most pivotal issue at hand. The melt down has proven that changes will have to be made to ensure that these kinds of excesses and these kinds of bubbles do not bring down the entire global financial system in the future. We have become a very small world with very slim borders and we need to understand that being so interconnected makes it critical that we all play by the rules. So rules and transparency are absolutely necessary. He is young and charismatic and believes in education and environmental issues which for me are both critical and important.

Sophia Kalantzakos, Deputy Minister of Employment & Social Protection, was born in Athens. She received her BA in History and Italian Literature from Yale University in 1987. She obtained her MA degree from Columbia University in the School of International & Public Affairs in 1998. Her work focused mainly on European Affairs and Turkey. As a Ph.D. candidate, Mrs. Kalantzakos is focussing on the politics of water and water management. She is married to Phillip Mitsis, A. S. Onassis Professor of Hellenic Culture and Civilization, and Chairman of the Department of Classics at NYU. They have a daughter, Alexandra.