This excerpt originally appeared in National Review Online on July 5, 2012.

According to the report, in 2010 and 2011, rather than cutting spending as the Greek government had promised, it actually hired as many as 70,000 public employees. Now that they are exposed, the government officials are trying — it seems — to sell the deception as a good thing and as consistent with the European focus (driven by the French president) on growth.