This Edinburgh Book Festival session in the Peppers Theatre with Laurie Penny and Chaired by Faisal Islam was probably the most disappointing one that I have ever attended at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. The title was totally misleading and we really had no proper assessment of the Greek financial crisis, which seemed to disappoint a number of those who came to the session.
The 'book' was in fact an e-book - nothing wrong in that - but it did seem to affect the way that the subject was treated. Penny described the project - because it seemed to be more of a 'project' than a serious assessment of the publicised subject, was described as an 'illustrated journalistic project'. It was talked about as 'an experiment' as there have not been many collaborative journalistic projects and of persuading Random House to support what was not actually a 'full book'. Faisal Islam used a computer to show the audience some of the illustrations from the book - they were interesting, but scarcely relevant to the subject given.
Penny gave the setting as July 2012 and the inconclusive election had just been held. She said there had been rioting and uncertainty about whether Greece would leave the Euro, adding that it was like being in the eye of the storm at a temperature of 40 degrees and with no air conditioning.
Penny spoke of much anger and unrest, but failed to suggest what was the cause, nor did she address the origins of the Greek crisis.
Penny seemed keen to present the Greek case, suggesting that no one actually appreciated that the debt was so high. She added that the standard of living has gone down enormously, taxes have gone up and no one has enough money to live on.
Asked if the Greeks were lazy, she said that they were 'angry' and thought that there had been widespread corruption with large sums being spent on weapons and the military rather than supporting the people in the street. She added that huge sums of money had been spent in Germany on contracts and seemed to suggest that Germany had a moral responsibility for the crisis as a result of these contracts.
Penny told of the very sad last performance of the Greek National Symphony Orchestra where the orchestra were in tears and it was a hugely moving moment.
Asked who she had spoken to about the Greek problems, she said that she had spoken 'to people in bars and at parties in their homes' - hardly the basis for any kind of objective assessment of the Greek financial crisis. It was also a pity that a lot of the question period was taken up by some people making very lengthy statements expressing their personal views rather than actually asking questions.
This might have gained a higher star rating with a different title - but then I probably would not have gone anyway.