Pisani-Ferry, Jean, (2013), “The Politics of Moral Hazard”, www.project-syndicate.org, 30 Μαρτίου. It is an old and never-ending contest. On one side are the moral-hazard scolds, claiming that one of the major responsibilities confronting policymakers is to establish incentives that demonstrate that imprudent behavior does not pay. On the other side are the partisans of financial stability, for whom confidence in the financial system is too precious to be endangered, even …Read More

Λυμπεράκη, Αντιγόνη, Τήνιος, Πλάτων, (2013), «Κύπρος στον δρόμο της Φινλανδίας ή, μήπως, της Αργεντινής;», www.protagon.gr, 30 Μαρτίου. Η Κύπρος, τις μέρες που πέρασαν, διαπιστώνει το τέλος ή την απότομη προσγείωση ενός οικονομικού μοντέλου. Καλείται να ανασυνταχθεί για να βρει έναν νέο ρόλο για τον εαυτό της στην παγκόσμια οικονομία. Υπάρχουν ιστορικά παραδείγματα, θετικά και αρνητικά. Από τη μια πλευρά η Φινλανδία και η Σουηδία. Στα μέσα της δεκαετίας του 1990 …Read More

Kirkegaard, Jacob, (2013), “Did Cyprus Set a Dangerous Precedent? Some Further Thoughts”, The Peterson Institute for International Economics, 29 Μαρτίου. The precedent of imposing losses on uninsured depositors in Laiki Bank and the Bank of Cyprus was a sound one, but that does not mean it will be a widely used one in the euro area—or that it puts the entire euro area banking system at risk of depositor runs. …Read More

Boone, Laurence, Céline, Renucci, Ruben Segura-Cayuela, (2013), “Eurozone: Looking for growth”, www.voxeu.org, 25 Μαρτίου. What happens after the crisis ends? This column estimates the long-term effects of the current cyclical downturn on Eurozone economies. In the absence of any real impetus for bold reform, estimates show that the damage will indeed be long lasting, permanently impairing growth for an ageing population that requires higher growth capacity more than ever before.

Véron, Nicolas, (2013), “Europe’s Cyprus blunder and its consequences”, www.voxeu.org, 25 Μαρτίου. The Monday morning Eurozone Cyprus bailout is now public, although details are scant. This column argues that this package cancels out some of the mistakes in last week’s package. Last week, the Troika should have vetoed the small-deposit tax and prepared a plan B for the Cypriot parliament’s rejection. Avoiding the risky scenario of a Cyprus exit will …Read More

Pop,Valentina, (2013), “Cyprus ‘business model’ was no mystery to EU”, EUobserver.com, 22 Μαρτίου. Be it the German finance minister, European Central Bank (ECB) officials or the head of the Eurogroup – they all agree on one thing: Cyprus must scrap its “unsustainable business model” based on low taxes and attracting large amounts of bank deposits from abroad, mainly Russia. The Cypriot banking sector, relying largely on deposits, is more than …Read More

Beck, Thorsten, (2013), “Cyprus: What are the alternatives?”, www,voxeu.org, 22 Μαρτίου. Cypriot banks urgently need restructuring and downsizing, but a functioning financial system is necessary to handle Cyprus’s transformation to an economic model not based on an oversized banking sector. This column argues that splitting the Cypriot banking system into a bad ‘legacy’ part and a good forward-looking part seems the only feasible and effective solution to resolve the current …Read More

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