How the 1970s oil price shocks got Greece into this mess

The story of the Greek crisis is often painted as either one of the reckless borrower gambling with other people's money, or the victim of an inflexible European project that squeezes its weaker members for the benefit of the stronger.

There may be some truth to both of these narratives, but to get a fuller understanding of the causes of Greece's current problems you have to look further back at the country's own history. What you find is a sorry tale of nihilistic political populism, a wilful suspension of disbelief by international partners and a series of unfortunate accidents that helped turn a promising post-war recovery into a nightmare for its citizens.

Very few people involved in governing, investing or monitoring the country emerge from the past four decades without at least some of the blame resting on their shoulders. Yet, as is so often the way, many of those who were at fault managed to enjoy the good times but are reluctant to take any share of the burden that Athens now faces.