Scarpetta, Vincenzo, (2015), “Hollande proposes a Eurozone government”, Open Europe blog, 20 July Almost inevitably, the Greek crisis has reignited the debate over the future of Eurozone integration. Whatever happens with Greece – the country’s euro exit is definitely not off the table – it is clear that, at least in terms of rhetoric and intentions, we are likely to witness a renewed push for closer ties among the countries sharing …Read More
Techau, Jan, (2015), “Political Union Now!”, Carnegie Europe, 13 July Let’s put aside Angela Merkel’s economic wisdom in the Greek crisis for the moment. To be sure, as an economics layman with a penchant for fiscal conservatism, Merkel’s alleged toughness sounded reasonable to me, partly because it was well cushioned by enormous generosity. I think she basically had it right, and that her strategy for the euro crisis was better than …Read More
Slaughter, Anne-Marie, (2015), “Europe’s Civil War”, Project Syndicate, 21 July The negotiations leading up to the latest tentative deal on Greece’s debt brought into relief two competing visions of the European Union: the flexible, humane, and political union espoused by France, and the legalistic and economy-focused union promoted by Germany. As François Heisbourg recently wrote, “By openly contemplating the forced secession of Greece [from the eurozone], Germany has demonstrated that …Read More
Kühnlenz, Andre, (2015), “The Myth Of The EU’s €35bn Investment Package For Greece”, Social Europe Journal, 21 July We can all recall an enthusiastic Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. Shortly before negotiations with Greece broke off at the end of June he supposedly promised Alexis Tsipras an investment package worth €35bn. At first glance this sounded pretty generous, particularly for a country in which, since 2010, the stock of capital has …Read More
Sachs, Jeffrey, (2015), “Germany, Greece, and the Future of Europe”, Project Syndicate, 20 July I have been helping countries to overcome financial crises for 30 years, and have studied the economic crises of the twentieth century as background to my advisory work. In all crises, there is an inherent imbalance of power between creditor and debtor. Successful crisis management therefore depends on the creditor’s wisdom. In this regard, I strongly …Read More
Boehnke, Olaf, (2015), “Greece and Germany’s game of chicken”, European Council on Foreign Relations Commentary, 17 July “We are both heading for the cliff. Who jumps first is the chicken” were the famous last words of James Dean’s opponent in the classic movie “Rebel Without A Cause”. The game of chicken is a standard model of conflict for two players in game theory. While game theorist and sometime finance minister Yanis …Read More
Economist, (2015), “The dark clouds of peace-Built to foster friendship, the euro is manufacturing misery instead”, 18 July UNRAVELLING the tangled logic of Greece’s bail-out talks, Charlemagne has learned, is a little like trying to explain the rules of cricket to an American. How to make sense of a process in which Greek voters loudly spurn a euro-zone bail-out offer in a referendum, only to watch Alexis Tsipras, their prime …Read More
Bickerton, Christopher, Hodson, Dermot, Puetter, Uwe, (2015), “The New Intergovernmentalism: European Integration in the Post-Maastricht Era”, Journal of Common Market Studies, Volume 53, Issue 4, pages 703–722, July 2015 The post-Maastricht period is marked by an integration paradox. While the basic constitutional features of the European Union have remained stable, EU activity has expanded to an unprecedented degree. This form of integration without supranationalism is no exception or temporary deviation from traditional …Read More
Gandrud, Christopher, Hallerberg, Mark, (2015), “Does Banking Union Worsen the EU’s Democratic Deficit? The Need for Greater Supervisory Data Transparency”, Journal of Common Market Studies, Volume 53, Issue 4, Pages 703–935, July 2015 Does banking union exacerbate the European Union’s democratic deficit? Using Scharpf’s ‘input’ and ‘output’ legitimacy concepts, it is argued in this article that its design does worsen the democratic deficit. There are good reasons to limit ‘input legitimacy’ for …Read More
Mody, Ashoka, (2015), ” Germany, Not Greece, Should Exit the Euro”, Bloomberg View, 17 July The latest round of wrangling between Greece and its European creditors has demonstrated yet again that countries with such disparate economies should never have entered a currency union. It would be better for all involved, though, if Germany rather than Greece were the first to exit. Relevant Posts Gow, David, (2015), “Germany Undoes 70 Years …Read More
