Weisbrot, M. (2015) “How Greece Could Change the Future of Europe“, Vice News, Opinion & Analysis, 28 January.
The Syriza party’s big win in Greece’s legislative election last weekend is a turning point in the long political fight over Europe’s botched recovery from the financial crisis and world recession of 2008-2009. The occasion presents a milestone for the eurozone, which has been plagued by mass unemployment and economic stagnation, but it remains to be seen how much this election will speed up the reversal of the destructive policies that brought the eurozone to its present state.
“Democracy will return to Greece,” declared Alexis Tsipras, the charismatic 40-year-old leader of Syriza who will become the country’s youngest prime minister in 150 years, as he cast his vote in Sunday’s election. “The message is that our common future in Europe is not the future of austerity.”
His remarks provide a concise political statement that goes to the core of the main problem afflicting both Greece and the eurozone. Simply contrasting the economic recovery of the United States — the epicenter of the earthquake that upended global finance in 2008 and 2009 — with that of Europe makes plain what a difference democracy makes.
Relevant posts:
- Bershidsky, L. (2015) “Syriza, Le Pen and the Power of Big Ideas“, BloombergView, 26 January.
- De Grauwe, Ρ. (2015) “Debt relief for Greece is necessary to avoid a crisis in the Eurozone“, LSE EUROPP, 12 January.
- Mitchell, B. (2014) “Greece – two alternative views“, Bill Mitchell Blog, Modern Monetary Theory… Macroeconomic Reality, 24 December.