Stevis, Matina, (2012), ‘What Is It About Greece?’, blogs.wsj.com, 9 March. The Greek debt restructuring, now in its final stretch, is “being as closely watched as a U.S. presidential election,” a market participant quips. But, why, one might ask, are people prepared to put themselves through the process of memorizing acronyms, learning about complicated legal maneuvers and following what has been an exhausting process, if they’re not getting paid to do …Read More
Resolving the European Debt Crisis
Cline, William, Wolf, Guntram (eds),(2012), Resolving the European Debt Crisis, Special Report 21, Peterson Institute for International Economics and Bruegel. What began as a relatively localized crisis in Greece in early 2010 soon escalated to envelop Ireland and Portugal. By the second half of 2011, the contagion had spread to the far larger economies of Italy and Spain. In mid-September the Peterson Institute and Bruegel hosted a conference designed to …Read More
Saving Europe: How National Politics Nearly Destroyed the Euro
Bastasin, Carlo, (2012), Saving Europe: How National Politics Nearly Destroyed the Euro, Washington: Brookings Institution Press. Three times in the few years since the global financial crisis erupted, the euro has come close to extinction, endangering both the world economy and history’s most ambitious project in shared sovereignty. Yet each time, the case for a common currency proved to be more compelling than its weaknesses, and the euro survived. Saving Europe reveals …Read More
Greek Economy and the Crisis; Challenges and Responses
Petrakis, Panagiotis, (2012), Greek Economy and the Crisis; Challenges and Responses, Springer. The book “The Greek Economy and the Crisis. Challenges and Responses” targets all those who think about the present and future of this (culturally) long-lived small geographic region (Greece), to form a personal view of its social and economic problems. A society that repeats the same types of behaviour over the centuries does not do so due to random …Read More
Greekonomics: The Euro Crisis and Why Politicians don’t get it
Pryce, Vicky, (2012), Greekonomics: The Euro Crisis and Why Politicians don’t get it, Biteback Publishing. Economist Vicky Pryce reflects on the current crisis in the Euro Zone its causes and how Europe has responded, and offers her thoughts on what might and what needs to happen if the Euro is to survive in its current form. She pays particular attention to Greece, the country of her birth, the country first …Read More
If Greece goes…:The impact of a Greek default on Europe and the world economy
Financial Times, (2012), If Greece goes…;The impact of a Greek default on Europe and the world economy, Penguin Books. The Financial Times, the global business newspaper, has led the field with its coverage of the eurozone crisis and Greece’s political and financial chaos. As the chances of a Greek exit from the eurozone grow, the FT’s specialist correspondents and authoritative columnists dissect the potentially devastating consequences for businesses and governments …Read More
A simple and flexible alternative to Stability and Growth Pact deficit ceilings. Is it at hand?
Muscatelli, Vito & Piergiovanna, Natale, (2012), ‘A simple and flexible alternative to Stability and Growth Pact deficit ceilings. Is it at hand?’, European Journal of Political Economy,Volume 28, Issue 1, p.p. 14–26. We model a monetary union where fiscal discretion generates excessive debt accumulation in steady state and inefficiently delayed debt adjustment following shocks. By setting a debt target and raising the political cost of deviating from the optimal pace …Read More
Sovereign Debt Restructurings 1950-2010; Literature Survey, Data, and Stylized Facts,
IMF, (2012), Sovereign Debt Restructurings 1950-2010; Literature Survey, Data, and Stylized Facts, IMF Working Papers, Monetary and Capital Markets Department, Washington. This paper provides a comprehensive survey of pertinent issues on sovereign debt restructurings, based on a newly constructed database. This is the first complete dataset of sovereign restructuring cases, covering the six decades from 1950–2010; it includes 186 debt exchanges with foreign banks and bondholders, and 447 bilateral debt …Read More
Who lost Greece?
Pisani-Ferry, Jean, (2012) ‘Who lost Greece?’ , www.bruegel.org, 21 February. Failing an agreement with its private creditors and public lenders, Athens will not be able to meet the next debt repayment deadline of 20 March. Every day which passes underscores the complexity of the negotiation and ratchets up the risk of it being too late to avert default. Even if, as is likely, a solution is found in extremis, many are …Read More
Debt Crisis and the Welfare State in Greece
Sakellaropoulos, Theodoros, (2012), ‘Debt Crisis and the Welfare State in Greece’, www.isa-sociology.org, 12 February. The current Greek fiscal or debt crisis -putting at risk the euro and the modern welfare state- as well as the policies developed as a response to the crisis can be understood only when taking into consideration firstly some specific characteristics of the development model adopted in Greece since the 19th century and secondly those phase …Read More