Bershidsky, L. (2015) “Syriza, Le Pen and the Power of Big Ideas“, BloombergView, 26 Ιανουαρίου. It may seem ironic that Marine Le Pen, the leader of France’s extreme right Front National, rooted for the extreme left Syriza in yesterday’s Greek election and rejoiced at its landslide victory. Yet there’s nothing unusual about it: Syriza, Front National and other European anti-establishment parties are partners in a political revolution that appears to be about to …Read More
Are Recipients of Social Assistance ‘Benefit Dependent’? Concepts, Measurement and Results for Selected Countries
Immervoll, H., Jenkins, P. S. & Königs, S. (2015) “Are Recipients of Social Assistance ‘Benefit Dependent’? Concepts, Measurement and Results for Selected Countries“, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Discussion Paper No. 8786, Ιανουάριος 2015. ABSTRACT Are Recipients of Social Assistance ‘Benefit Dependent’? Concepts, Measurement and Results for Selected Countries Means-tested Social Assistance (SA) benefits play an important role as social protection floors supporting households in financial difficulties. …Read More
Syriza’s victory underlines the transformation of Greek political culture during the crisis
Karoulas, G. (2015) “Syriza’s victory underlines the transformation of Greek political culture during the crisis, LSE EUROPP, 27 Ιανουαρίου. On 25 January, Syriza, led by Alexis Tsipras, won the 2015 Greek parliamentary elections and formed a new coalition government with another anti-austerity party, the Independent Greeks. Gerasimos Karoulas writes on the changes within Greek political culture which have occurred in Greece during the country’s economic crisis and which were …Read More
Quantitative easing in euro zone requires shared risk
Gros, D. & Kopf, C. (2015) “Quantitative easing in euro zone requires shared risk“, Centre for European Policy Studies: Economic Policy, Researchers’ work published externally, 21 Ιανουαρίου. In their column published online by Reuters, Daniel Gros and Christian Kopf offer their assessment of the programme of sovereign bond purchases to be undertaken shortly by the European Central Bank in the euro area. They examine in particular the accounting technique …Read More
The Greek Stand-By Arrangement
Krugman, P. (2015) “The Greek Stand-By Arrangement“, The New York Times, 25 Ιανουαρίου. 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
Tsipras And Syriza’s Win Reboots European Social Democracy
Gow, D. (2015) “Tsipras And Syriza’s Win Reboots European Social Democracy“, Social Europe Journal, 26 Ιανουαρίου. The “vicious circle of austerity is over,” said Alexis Tsipras, Syriza leader and Greece’s likely new premier, after his party won a stunning victory in yesterday’s general election. It would be replaced, he added, by “a politics of hope, solidarity and co-operation.” He and his senior colleagues say this is true for the …Read More
The return of the German question: why conflict between creditor and debtor states is now the defining feature of European politics
Kudnani, H. (2015) “The return of the German question: why conflict between creditor and debtor states is now the defining feature of European politics“, LSE EUROPP, 26 Ιανουαρίου. One of the key geopolitical issues in Europe prior to the Second World War was how the power of Germany could be effectively balanced by other European states. Hans Kundnani assesses the relevance of these historical debates to the current situation …Read More
Greek choices after the elections – there is a chance for an agreement between the new Greek government and euro-area partners with both sides claiming victory at home
Darvas, Z. (2015) “Greek choices after the elections – there is a chance for an agreement between the new Greek government and euro-area partners with both sides claiming victory at home“, Bruegel Institute, 23 Ιανουαρίου. In the days ahead of the Greek snap elections on 25 January 2015 a huge range of opinions has appeared on what Greece and its lenders should do. A large group of people are …Read More
Η τελευταία και καλύτερη ελπίδα της Ευρώπης
Neil, Irwin, (2015), “Η τελευταία και καλύτερη ελπίδα της Ευρώπης”, Η Καθημερινή, 23 Ιανουαρίου. Το πρόγραμμα που ανακοίνωσε χθες ο Μάριο Ντράγκι και αποτελεί προσπάθεια να ανασυρθεί η ευρωπαϊκή οικονομία από την ύφεση έρχεται με καθυστέρηση μηνών, είναι μικρό σε σύγκριση με τα αντίστοιχα σε ΗΠΑ και Ιαπωνία, και περίπλοκο για να ικανοποιήσει πολιτικές σκοπιμότητες. Ισως, όμως, είναι η τελευταία και καλύτερη ελπίδα της Ευρώπης να μη διολισθήσει σε μία …Read More
Grexit 2015: A primer
Gros, Daniel, (2015), “Grexit 2015: A primer”, CEPS Commentaries, 23 Ιανουαρίου. 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