Krugman, P. (2014) “Mad as Hellas“, The New York Times Opinion Pages, 11 Δεκεμβρίου.   The Greek fiscal crisis erupted five years ago, and its side effects continue to inflict immense damage on Europe and the world. But I’m not talking about the side effects you may have in mind — spillovers from Greece’s Great Depression-level slump, or financial contagion to other debtors. No, the truly disastrous effect of the …Read More

Walsh, J. (2014) “Is the Greek economy improving?“, The Guardian, 27 Νοεμβρίου.   The Greek government is keen to trumpet the country’s improved economic outlook, as the country exits recession for the first time in six years. But is any improvement being felt by people on the ground? After a six year slump, Greece finally came out of recession earlier this month. But are there any signs of an improving …Read More

David Einhorn on Pireus Bank: now I know what He thinks, ViennaCapitalist Blog, 05 Νοεμβρίου.   I am grateful to reader IAthinker who commented on my recent Pireus bank post providing a link to David Einhorn’s presentation he gave at the recent Robin Hood conference, an annual gathering of Hedge Fund managers. At the conference, Einhorn reiterated his bullish stance on Pireus and Alpha bank, two of the biggest banks in Greece. As regular readers know, …Read More

“Greece’s shadow economy: The treasures of darkness“, The Economist, 10 Οκτωβρίου.   Getting Greeks to pay more tax is not just hard, but risky TWO out of three Greek workers either understate their earnings or fail to disclose them to the taxman altogether, according to Stephen Hall, an adviser to the Bank of Greece. Last year an estimated 24% of all economic activity in Greece went undeclared to evade tax …Read More

Chrepa, E. & Chrysoloras, N. (2014) “Private Bad Debt Buildup Casts Shadow on Greek Rebound“, Bloomberg News, 29 Σεπτεμβρίου.   To Aristides Belles, it’s clear what’s blocking Greece’s recovery: a quiet build-up of about 164 billion euros ($208 billion) in bad loans. “The inability of Greek companies to repay their loans to banks and their dues to the state is clearly holding back Greece’s return to growth,” said the chief …Read More