Why every nation cooks its books
By Jim Jubak
Greece cheated on its national accounts in 2009. And that led to a budget crisis in 2010.
But that’s not the important part of the story.
What makes this a crisis not just for Greece but also for the euro and the European Union is that everyone — from the Greek government and its accountants to the financial officials of the EU to the experts at international watchdog agencies such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, or OECD — knew it.
