Actually the recently announced austerity plan has been the hardest ever for the people here, at least since democracy was restored in 1974. And the soon-to-be-announced revised austerity plan mandated by the IMF is rumored to be the hardest thing since WW II. It's not certain that the plan's goals will be met of course, but you can be sure that this time the politicians are not only caring about their re-election.