Sachs, Jeffrey, (2015), “Germany, Greece, and the Future of Europe”, Project Syndicate, 20 July I have been helping countries to overcome financial crises for 30 years, and have studied the economic crises of the twentieth century as background to my advisory work. In all crises, there is an inherent imbalance of power between creditor and debtor. Successful crisis management therefore depends on the creditor’s wisdom. In this regard, I strongly …Read More

Boehnke, Olaf, (2015), “Greece and Germany’s game of chicken”, European Council on Foreign Relations Commentary, 17 July “We are both heading for the cliff. Who jumps first is the chicken” were the famous last words of James Dean’s opponent in the classic movie “Rebel Without A Cause”. The game of chicken is a standard model of conflict for two players in game theory. While game theorist and sometime finance minister Yanis …Read More

Mody, Ashoka, (2015), ” Germany, Not Greece, Should Exit the Euro”, Bloomberg View, 17 July The latest round of wrangling between Greece and its European creditors has demonstrated yet again that countries with such disparate economies should never have entered a currency union. It would be better for all involved, though, if Germany rather than Greece were the first to exit. Relevant Posts Gow, David, (2015), “Germany Undoes 70 Years …Read More

Cox, Michael, (2015), “Greece Surrendered, But The Real Defeat Was For Europe”, Social Europe Journal, 16 July In a recent article on the Greek crisis, I argued that a much bigger game was being played out in Europe over Greece – and the name of that game was deterrence. In plain English, make the terms of any deal with any rebellious, indebted, government in Europe so tough – almost unacceptable – that …Read More