Whyte, Philip,Tilford, Simon, (2013), “Could Cyprus reignite the eurozone crisis?”, Centre for European Reform, 22 Μαρτίου. Each of the crisis-hit eurozone countries shares some responsibility for its predicament. Italy used membership of the single currency as an excuse to go slow on pushing through much-needed structural reforms of its economy. The Irish and Spanish were excessively relaxed about their booming housing markets. Greece and Portugal were simply not sufficiently converged …Read More

Μανούζας, Σάκης, (2013),  ‘Οι αναδιανεμητικές επιδράσεις, η λογική και τα μειονεκτήματα της απόφασης για την Κύπρο’, www.poleconomix.gr, 21 Μαρτίου 2013.

Momani, Bessma, (2013), “Is Russian Peter Being Used to Pay the Cypriot’s Paul?”, Brookings Institute, 21 Μαρτίου. Cyprus, a small island of one million people, has very large banks. In fact, the banks have the wealth of eight times the entire Cypriot economy. Obviously, this doesn’t add up and that’s because Cyprus has become an offshore financial centre, offering a haven for money transfers, money laundering, and Internet banks. Foreigners …Read More

Bruton, John, (2013), “Cyprus … A Test Case for Future European Banking Policy”, The Centre for European Policy Studies, 21  Μαρτίου. In this CEPS Commentary, the former Irish Prime Minister calls the precedents being set in the Cypriot banking case “troubling” and reflective of a lack of clarity and consistency of thought by both the eurozone Finance Ministers and the European Commission. He welcomes the rejection of the deal by …Read More

Mody, Ashoka, (2013), “Rolling the Dice in Cyprus”,  www.project-syndicate.org, 21 Μαρτίου. The task was never going to be an easy one: impose losses worth about €5.8 billion ($7.5 billion) on lenders to the Cypriot government and depositors with the country’s banks. And now that effort has led Europe to its latest impasse. In marathon negotiations, the Cypriot government, under the supervision of the troika (the European Commission, the European Central …Read More

Aslund, Anders, (2013), “Russia to the Rescue? Why Moscow May Bail out Cyprus”, The Peterson Institute for International Economics, 21 Μαρτίου. Suddenly, Russia has become a central player in the Cypriot financial crisis. On the very evening after the Cypriot parliament rejected a proposed levy on bank deposits that the Cypriot president had previously accepted as a condition for a bailout package of €10 billion, Finance Minister Michael Sarris flew …Read More

Elliott, Douglas, (2013), “Cyprus May Be a Turning Point in the Eurozone Crisis”, Brookings Institute, 20 Μαρτίου. One way or another, the situation is Cyprus likely marks a major turning point in the eurozone crisis. It could be the beginning of true disaster for the zone, eventually leading to a series of sovereign debt defaults and possible exits from the euro area. It could also be the point at which …Read More

Gulati, Mitu, Buchheit, Lee C., (2013), “Walking back from Cyprus”, www.voxeu.org, 20 Μαρτίου. Eurozone leaders’ radical step of putting insured depositors in Cypriot banks in harm’s way was not their only option. This column argues that none of the alternatives were pleasant but some were less ominous.

Annunziata, Marco, (2013), “Cyprus is different”, www.voxeu.org, 20 Μαρτίου. The Cyprus rescue package has elicited sharp reactions. This column argues that a tax on deposits is logical given the limited options, but guaranteed deposits should be spared on fairness and systematic grounds; a 15% tax on big deposits would be enough. Contagion is unlikely since Cyprus is different. Italian and Spanish savers are already alert to surprises such as the …Read More