TED Radio Hour

For the past few years, life in Greece has been like that movie Groundhog Day. Every year, it's been the same thing over and over. The official statistics come out, and the news is bad. The economy shrank this year, the economy shrank this year, the economy shrank this year.  But this year, things might be different.* The official forecasts are that the amazing shrinking economy will finally stop shrinking. This might sound like good news, but for people living in Greece it's been a painful process. Elias Tilligadas is a government food inspector in Greece. Recently, his pay was cut 45 percent. "The numbers are getting better; the people are getting worse," Elias says. "Our lives are getting worse."