Wren-Lewis, S. (2015) “Greece and primary surpluses“, Mainly Macro Blog, 24 February. In my simple guide to the current macroeconomic position of Greece, I said that a major mistake made by the Troika was to insist on a pace of fiscal adjustment that was far too fast. It led to a collapse in the economy. Of course a collapse in the economy itself raises the deficit. So people who …Read More
Greece, Its International Creditors and the Euro
Sabri Öncü, T. (2015) “Greece, Its International Creditors and the Euro“, Naked Capitalism Blog, 17 February. Yves here. This is an excellent background piece on how Greece got where it is and how its various bailouts were structured. It also helps explain the past and current roles the various members of the Troika play and discusses the prospects for Greece achieving its aims. By T ([email protected]), a financial economist …Read More
The maths behind an amended Greek plan – additional ESM financing would allow the Greek primary surplus to be lowered to 3% of GDP
Darvas, Z. (2015) “The maths behind an amended Greek plan – additional ESM financing would allow the Greek primary surplus to be lowered to 3% of GDP“, Bruegel Institute, 11 February. Last week I published my assessment of Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis’ draft plan, and promised to do some calculations to illustrate its impacts. Mr Varoufakis abandoned the earlier haircut demand of Syriza that I welcomed as a …Read More
Library » Greece » Economy » Policy Papers
Greece – a Varoufakis Conversion
Cook, C. (2015) “Greece – a Varoufakis Conversion“, Pieria Online, 06 February. Greece’s new Syriza government has two major economic challenges to address: a Resolution of Greece’s unsustainable debt burden followed by a Transition to a long term sustainable economy. Conventional resolution of sovereign debt is a debt for debt swap: replacing existing debt with new debt which requires a smaller percentage of Greece’s national income and resources to …Read More
A Greek Morality Tale
Stiglitz, J. (2015) “A Greek Morality Tale“, Social Europe Journal, 04 February. When the euro crisis began a half-decade ago, Keynesian economists predicted that the austerity that was being imposed on Greece and the other crisis countries would fail. It would stifle growth and increase unemployment – and even fail to decrease the debt-to-GDP ratio. Others – in the European Commission, the European Central Bank, and a few universities …Read More
Library » Greece » Economy » Politics » Opinion Articles
Tsipras’s Debt Plan Sends Athens Stock Market Sliding
Aldermanjan, L. (2015) “Tsipras’s Debt Plan Sends Athens Stock Market Sliding“, The New York Times – International Business, 28 January. Investors made clear on Wednesday the depth of their concerns about Greece’s new leftist-led government, driving up its borrowing costs, pushing down stock prices and highlighting the risks in the country’s banking system. Despite some soothing words from Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who at the first meeting of his …Read More
Library » Greece » Economy » Policy Papers
The Greek Stand-By Arrangement
Krugman, P. (2015) “The Greek Stand-By Arrangement“, The New York Times, 25 January. For tomorrow’s column I went back to the original, May 2010 stand-by arrangement for Greece, to see what the troika was demanding and predicting at the beginning of the austerity push, and how it compares with what actually happened. First of all, I quite often encounter people who claim that Greece never really did austerity. I …Read More
Library » Greece » Economy » Opinion Articles
Grexit 2015: A primer
Gros, Daniel, (2015), “Grexit 2015: A primer”, CEPS Commentaries, 23 January. In the run-up to the Greek elections on January 25th and the subsequent renegotiation of the country’s economic adjustment programme with the troika, Daniel Gros writes in this Commentary that “nobody officially wants Grexit”: not Syriza, which wants Greece to stay in the euro. It is ‘only’ asking for a reduction in Greece’s official debt and an end to …Read More
Library » EU » Greece » Economy » Opinion Articles
We should be wary of removing the ECB from the troika to facilitate the use of outright monetary transactions
Otero Iglesias, Μ. (2015) “We should be wary of removing the ECB from the troika to facilitate the use of outright monetary transactions“, LSE EUROPP, 19 January. A key legal debate in the context of the Eurozone crisis is whether so called ‘Outright Monetary Transactions’(OMT), which would allow the European Central Bank (ECB) to buy unlimited numbers of government bonds in secondary markets, are compatible with European law. The …Read More
Why a Grexit is more costly for Germany than a default inside the euro area – Contrary to the IFO institute, we conclude that German losses on both official and private claims would be much higher if Greece exits the euro
Darvas, Z. & Hüttl, P. (2015) “Why a Grexit is more costly for Germany than a default inside the euro area – Contrary to the IFO institute, we conclude that German losses on both official and private claims would be much higher if Greece exits the euro“, Bruegel Institute, 16 January. A few days ago the influential IFO Institute published a short paper suggesting that a Greek default inside …Read More
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