2C

SUNDAY, JULY 5, 2015

BUSINESS

When its all Greek to me

what does Greece matter?
The Ancient Greek philosopher Plato could have
been warning his modern descendants when he
wrote: Those who are too
smart to engage in politics are punished by being
governed by those who are
dumber.
You might think his
words went unheeded.
Successive late twentieth
century Greek governments set up unrealistically generous pension and
other benefit plans, and
spent freely.
Greece spent billions on
a military arsenal that they
didnt need and would be
unlikely ever to use. Greece
was even Europes largest importer of conventional weapons when the
2008 recession happened,
ranking fifth in the world
behind China, India, the
United Arab Emirates and
South Korea. Its forces
included 1,300 tanks
more than twice as many
as Britain!
If politicians being
dumb was a problem, their
corruption made matters
worse. According to the
New York Times, Greece
spent as much as $68 billion on military equipment
between 1996 and 2006,
much of it with borrowed
money. To win that business, arms dealers many
from Germany and elsewhere in Europe wooed
Greek politicians and military officials with at least
$2.7 billion in bribes.
All of which might
explain why Greece has
$4 billion in new, untested
submarines sitting idle
which it ordered in 2000
and finished paying for
around the financial crisis. Perhaps chastened by
Greeces current financial
straits, Greece is now suing
one of the subs German
manufacturers, which is
also being investigated for
bribes possibly paid to win
the contract in the first

Ian
Ogilvie

STREET SMART

place.
Add to the out-of-control government spending
and graft, the tendency of
many Greeks to underreport their income a
study cited in the Wall
Street Journal estimated
that the size of Greek tax
evasion accounted for
an estimated half of the
countrys deficit in 2008
and a third of its deficit
in 2009 and one can
see why Greece does not
always get much sympathy
for the position in which it
finds itself today.

Others to blame, too

Greece has had plenty
of help creating the rolling euro Greek crisis,
however. Greedy arms
dealers some tied to
respected companies in
Europe had no scruples
when they bribed Greek
officials. Banks loaned
Greece money that they
should have known it
would not be able to repay.
And Europe imposed a
plan of austerity marked
by tax increases and
reductions in spending
on Greece, which seemed
to suit the stronger economies in Europe but not
Greece.
Since the austerity
regime was imposed after
the 2008 financial crisis, Greece has been in
almost constant recession.
Its unemployment rate
is about 25% and almost
half of its young people
are unemployed. Many
employable Greeks have
left for better opportunities elsewhere a crippling brain drain.

And with a national debt

to GDP of 177 percent
twice the level of the U.S.
Greece may not be able
to climb out of its hole.
The IMF recently calculated that even if Greece
complied with all the tax
and spending reforms
being demanded of it, it
would still have a national
debt equal to 118 percent
of GDP in the year 2030,
more than the 110 percent
that the IMF considers
sustainable.
But while the European
Commission, the International Monetary Fund and
the European Central Bank
(the so-called Troika)
could require austerity as
a condition to remaining
in the eurozone, they could
not force Greece to stay in
the eurozone if it decided
to bail out.
And there is no precedent for leaving the eurozone, and no set of rules for
doing so. Despite earlier
statements that adoption
of the euro had been irreversible, Europe is plainly
terrified at the thought of a
member state leaving. No
one knows what happens
if Greece exits the eurozone (Grexit), and other,
weaker economies within
Europe (think Spain and
Portugal) will be watching.
If Greece can exit successfully, then other countries
may think they can too,
possibly threatening the
currency union.
The Troika has taken
steps to protect the integrity of the eurozone by
buying bonds like the
Feds quantitative easing
in the US and setting up
a bailout fund, but no one
knows if those things will
work should push come to
shove.
No one wants to test
them, either, as a failure of
the eurozone could cause
another global financial
crisis.
That is the basis for the

game of chicken between

Greeces Prime Minister
Alexis Tsipras and Europes
leaders theres no other
way to explain how a country with just 3 percent of
the eurozones population
and 2 percent of its GDP
can hold Europes (and the
worlds) attention for so
long. If its a game, its no
laughing matter: Greece
is a humanitarian disaster
in the making, and Europe
doesnt know how to fix it.
The game of chicken is
not likely to end with the
referendum scheduled to
take place in Greece on
Sunday. Europe officially
says a yes vote is necessary to stay in the euro and
that a no vote means no
the euro. A yes seems to
mean staying the course
with austerity (i.e., living
with and slowly reducing
all of its debt), and a no
a return to the drachma or
a new currency, with all
the chaos that would bring
(think loss of savings,
inflation, bankruptcies of
companies with loans in
Euros).
These
are
terrible
options for Greece.
Tsipras doesnt want
either option. He wants
Greeks to vote no. Not
because he wants to exit
the eurozone, though, but
because he thinks Europe
will not leave the bargaining table, and he will have
more leverage with a no
vote.
Europe has a powerful
(maybe even overpowering) interest in making
sure Greece can live within
the eurozone, and Tsipras
knows this.
Tsipras thinks there
are better possibilities
for Greece. And judging from the IMFs very
public suggestion just a
few days before Greeces
referendum that Europe
should forgive $60 billion
of Greeces debt, he may be
right.

Discussing sentimental or costly items early

can make estate planning easier for families
Most people consider
their estate plan complete
when they have planned
for the disposition of all of
their financial assets and
real property. However, we
all have personal effects
for example, jewelry,
furniture, and collectibles
that have either sentimental or monetary value
and will be inherited by
our family members.
After the death of
a spouse, a typical estate
plan leaves personal
effects equally to my
children. The personal
representative or trustee
must decide which child
receives what personal
effects. If there are items
of significant monetary
or sentimental value, the
family may struggle to
divide these assets.
The following tips can
help avoid a dispute:
Conflicting promises:
Do not promise the same
items to more than one
person. This may happen
because of forgetfulness or
because you do not want
to anger a relative. Creating these expectations can
lead to disappointment
and disputes if multiple
relatives believe they are
entitled to the same item.

Family discussions:
Discuss with family
members in advance. It is
difficult to talk about your
own death to your family,
but you can give them
an opportunity, over a
holiday or family gathering, to ask whether there
is something sentimental
or memorable that each of
them would like to inherit.
You may find out that the
grandfather clock that
you always thought your
son would want will not
fit in his home, and your
daughter would love to
have it.
Most families can
work out the division of
personal effects without problems. When a
problem arises, the family
usually argues over a
unique item with sentimental memories or a
particularly valuable item.
For an example, all family
members have a sentimental attachment to a

particular Christmas decoration that was at every

family holiday. There is
only one of that particular
item, and everyone wants
it. Alternatively, one piece
of artwork that has a value
well in excess of the other
personal effects can cause
problems. If the children
are supposed to share
equally, it can be very difficult to equalize distributions if you have one item
with a greater value than
all the other items.
If you believe either
of these situations may
occur, you should consider
the following planning
tips:
Lifetime gifts: Make
lifetime gifts of personal
effects to the family member that you would like to
inherit that item. To avoid
any questions about your
intentions, you should give
up possession of the item.
The gift tax rules do apply
to gifts of personal effects.
You may make tax free
gifts of up to $14,000 per
person in 2015 or $28,000
per person for a married
couple.
Written instructions:
Put it in writing. Some
family members will
honor a list in a letter

from you as your wishes.

However, this letter may
not be legally enforceable.
To ensure your wishes are
followed, you need to state
your wishes in a properly
executed will or trust
instrument.
Specific considerations
for valuable items: If you
are lucky enough to have
a collection of art or other
valuables, you need to
pay attention to establishing value. You need
appraisals for insurance
during lifetime. At death
your executor may need
an updated appraisal for
purposes of dividing up
among your beneficiaries.
You should not rely on an
outdated appraisal. If you
are concerned about how
to divide your collection
between multiple children, you can consider
donating your collection
to a charity or museum. In
that event, it is prudent to
plan during your lifetime
and inquire whether the
charity will accept the
items and on what terms.
LAUREN OTTAWAY IS AN
ATTORNEY WITH CROWE &
DUNLEVY AND A MEMBER OF
THE FIRMS PRIVATE WEALTH &
CLOSELY-HELD BUSINESS AND
TAXATION PRACTICE GROUPS.

BUSINESS ALMANAC
WEDNESDAY
Heartland Chapter of the American Business Womens Association presents Steve and Julie Peter on the
topic of Parade of Presidents, 11 a.m. Wednesday at Boulevard Cafeteria, 525 NW 11. Fee: Cost of meal. Contact:
Wanda Foley, 751-4780.

THE OKLAHOMAN | NEWSOK.COM

BUSINESS PEOPLE
The Oklahoma City office of
Grant Thornton LLPadds three
people in its audit, technology
solutions, and business advisory services practices. Sonny
Blanchardjoined as an audit
associate. Blanchard graduated
from Nicholls State University.
Cyril Onoja joined as a senior
associate in the technology solutions practice. Onoja has experience working on a variety of techFinley
nology projects. He is a graduate
of the University of Oklahoma.
Jennifer Finley joined as a manager in its business
advisory services practice. She has experience in
the oil and gas and transportation industries. Finley
has an MBA from Oklahoma City University and a
Bachelor of Science in Business Education from the
University of Central Oklahoma.

Camilla Fraga-Lovejoy, M.D., a

pediatric gastroenterologist, has
established her medical practice
with OU Childrens Physicians.
Fraga-Lovejoy is board certified in
pediatrics. She completed a pediatric gastroenterology fellowship
at the University of Oklahoma
College of Medicine. She completed a pediatric residency and
internship at Miami Childrens
Fraga-Lovejoy
Hospital, Florida, and earned her
medical degree in Brazil. She is a
member of the American Academy of Pediatrics
and the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition.

Dr. Michael Throwerjoins

Mercy Clinic Long-Term Care.
He completed four internships,
including three months as a software engineer at Sandia National
Laboratory in New Mexico, but he
left engineering to serve others
through practicing medicine
particularly the elderly. Thrower
graduated from the University
of Oklahoma College of Medicine
in 2007. He stayed at OU for
Thrower
his internal medicine residency,
completing it in 2010. Thrower
completed a fellowship in geriatrics in 2014 at the
Oklahoma City VA Medical Center.

First Fidelity BankaddsJanna

Linfante as vice president and
human resources generalist. Linfante will work in bank employment functions, including recruitment, compensation, and fringe
benefits. She also will facilitate
human resources systems within
the organization and employee
relations. Linfante has nearly
10years in human resources
experience. She has a Bachelor of
Linfante
Arts from the University of Tulsa
and is completing her Master
of Public Administration from the University of
Oklahoma.

David K. GoodwinjoinsRCB
Bank as senior vice president,
market president of its new loan
office in Yukon. Goodwin has
30 years of banking experience
in lending, including as a chief
lending officer. Goodwin is a
graduate of the Southwestern
School of Graduate Banking at
Southern Methodist University
and Oklahoma State University in
Stillwater.
Goodwin

Longtime
Kingfisher area
bankers Robbye
Jones and
Robin Rother
have joined
F&M Bank
in Kingfisher.
Jones will serve
as senior vice
president. A
Jones
Rother
graduate of
Weatherford
High School and Oklahoma State University, Jones
formerly worked at banks in Fairview and Weatherford. He was most recently president of Interbank in Kingfisher. Rother will be an assistant vice
president. She is a graduate of Lomega High School
and attended Redlands Community College in El
Reno. She is a 33-year veteran of banking. She was
previously with Interbank.

Edmond accounting firm

Arledge & AssociatespromotesBryce Engelbert to audit
senior. Engelbert, a certified public
accountant, is a 2013 graduate of
Fort Hays State University. In his
new role, Engelbert will serve as
the in-charge auditor on various
audit engagementsand also will
train staff auditors.

Engelbert

AWARDS
Connie Schlittler, program administrator for the
Oklahoma Department of Human Services office of
planning, research and statistics, has been chosen
as the 2015 Social Worker of the Year by the Oklahoma chapter of the National Association of Social
Workers. Schlittler, a licensed clinical social worker,
joined DHS in 2006. She is responsible for grant
writing, program evaluation and statistical reports
for the agency. She initiated the Practice and Policy
Lecture Series in 2007 and the Oklahoma Womens
Leadership Conference for Women in Public Service
in 2009.