Steve Forbes explains in the latest issue of Forbes magazine how other countries can learn an important lesson from Greece’s financial woes.

If you’re serious about saving your country and rescuing its people from a more dreadful economic catastrophe, there are basic steps you should take that would promptly promote economic growth, while giving you the priceless political opportunity to tell the troika–the IMF , the ECB and the EU (i.e., the Germans)–where to get off.

After all, there’s no reason that Greece’s economy can’t expand. Look at neighboring Bulgaria, Albania and, yes, Macedonia. They have troubles aplenty, but their performances are sterling next to yours. Their economies have expanded in recent years, while yours has experienced a terrible contraction. Must Greece perpetually be the runt of the EU litter when it comes to economic growth? No.

Here’s how you can put away your beggar’s cup for good.

–Taxes. Bulgaria and Macedonia each have a flat-tax system of 10% on personal incomes. Adopt your own 10% flat tax. Then go one better and slash your corporate tax rate to 10%. While you’re at it, whack your VAT to 15%, which will demonstrate your commitment to the downtrodden. As for your ridiculously high payroll tax of 45%, knock it down to 10% as well. …

… –Privatization. Here’s an easy source of considerable cash that would enormously lighten the pressure on your budget. Prior governments have dragged their feet and have even been unwilling to complete a census of what the government actually owns and how many people work for these entities. This is irresponsible in the extreme. And your government has drastically scaled back what its predecessors were reluctantly going to do. …

… –Make the process of setting up a business in Greece easy. Greece has made some progress in enabling people to set up legal enterprises, but the process still takes too long and offers opportunities for bureaucrats to demand that palms be greased. Use New Zealand as your model: It takes only a few keystrokes online to apply to open a new business there.

Along the same vein, and crucial to a properly functioning economy, is the enforcement of contracts. In this category the World Bank ranks Greece as one of the worst countries in the world.