Krugman, P., (2013), “Germany as Currency Manipulator”, The New York Times, The Conscience of a Liberal Blog, 27 September. […] The general point is that if we imagine a euro breakup, I think everyone would agree that the new mark would soar in value, making German manufacturing much less competitive. The German public imagines that it is being cruelly exploited for the benefit of lazy southerners; arguably, what’s really happening …Read More
Wyplosz, C., (2013), “Messing up the next Greek debt relief could endanger the Eurozone”, VoxEU, 23 September. Greece is in dire straits; it will need more debt relief. This column argues that Greece is suffering because northern EZ countries kicked the can down the road by forcing crisis countries to borrow rather than restructure their debts early on. It is time for the ‘generous’ lenders to face the consequences of …Read More
Mody, A., (2013), “A new Greek test for Europe”, Project Syndicate, 16 September. Over the last year, it has been easy to lose sight of the Greek debt crisis. Brimming with official funds, Greece was apparently on the mend. Though privatization plans lagged, the Greeks won high marks for doubling down on fiscal austerity. In Europe’s summer of quiet triumphalism, ever-lower expectations were easy to beat. But Greece is set …Read More
Eichengreen, B., (2013), “Is Europe out of the woods?”, Project Syndicate, 11 September. And what happened in Greece would not stay in Greece. Once the process of euro exit had started, there was no telling where it would stop. The general feeling was that the common currency was doomed. CommentsView/Create comment on this paragraphIn fairness, this dark prognosis was not universally embraced. My own favorite recollection of this period is …Read More
Binder, D., (2013), “Countries with higher rates of taxation tend to have happier citizens”, European Politics and Policy Blog, 10 September. What impact does a country’s level of taxation have on the happiness of its citizens? Using OECD data, David Binder assesses the relationship between high taxation levels and measures of citizen wellbeing/happiness. He finds that there is a correlation between high taxation and increased happiness, but that there are …Read More
Billington, I., (2013), “Euro-Zone Unemployment Unlikely to Fall Quickly”, The Wall Street Journal, The Euro Crisis Blog, 10 September. The euro zone may have emerged from recession this year, but unemployment is unlikely to fall quickly with companies less likely to hire staff in the final three months of the year than they were earlier in 2013, a survey of employers showed Tuesday. The quarterly Manpower Employment Outlook shows that, while there …Read More
IMF, (2013), “Completes Fourth Review Under Extended Fund Facility Arrangement for Greece, Approves €1.72 Billion Disbursement”, Press Release No. 13/280. The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) today completed the fourth review of Greece’s performance under an economic program supported by an Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement. The completion of this review enables the disbursement of SDR 1.51 billion (about €1.72 billion, or US$2.29 billion), which would bring …Read More
Eichengreen, Barry, (2013), “Lessons of a Greek Tragedy”, www.project-syndicate.org, 16 June. A visit to Greece leaves many vivid impressions. There are, of course, the country’s rich history, abundance of archeological sites, azure skies, and crystalline seas. But there is also the intense pressure under which Greek society is now functioning – and the extraordinary courage with which ordinary citizens are coping with economic disaster.
Pisani-Ferry, Jean, (2013) “Europe’s Troika Should Grow Up”, www.project-syndicate.org, 27 May 2013. In early 2010, a group of men (and a few women) in dark suits landed in Athens. They belonged to a global institution, the International Monetary Fund, and to a pair of regional ones, the European Commission and the European Central Bank. Their mission was to negotiate the terms and conditions of a financial bailout of Greece. A …Read More
Reinhart, Carmen, Rogoff, Kenneth, (2013), “Debt, Growth and the Austerity Debate”, The New York Times, 25 April. In May 2010, we published an academic paper, “Growth in a Time of Debt.” Its main finding, drawing on data from 44 countries over 200 years, was that in both rich and developing countries, high levels of government debt — specifically, gross public debt equaling 90 percent or more of the nation’s annual …Read More
