Featherstone, K., (2014), “The political challenges of institutional reform in Greece”, Policy Network, 11 February. Since 2010, Greece has endured deep social and economic pain.  Indeed, its recession is now comparable to that of the Wall Street crash.  No other European state has undergone such pain in the last fifty years or more.  And, of course, Germany followed a more benign path towards the GDR than it has insisted upon …Read More

Polychroniou, C. J., (2014), “The Myth of the Greek Economy ‘Success Story’”. Levy Economics Institute of Bard College, Policy Note, February 2014. In 2001, a three-year, multicountry study by the Structural Adjustment Participatory Review International Network (SAPRIN), prepared in cooperation with the World Bank, national governments, and civil society organizations, offered a damning indictment of the policies of structural adjustment reform pursued by the IMF and the World Bank in …Read More

Pappadà, Fr., Zylberberg, Y., (2014), “Tax evasion and austerity-plan failure”, www.voxeu.org, 3 February. Greece’s austerity package included an unprecedented increase in the VAT rate, but the resulting increase in revenue was much lower than expected. This column links this disappointing result to the ‘transparency response’ of firms to higher tax rates. In countries like Greece with poor tax monitoring, firms face a tradeoff when deciding whether to declare their activity. …Read More

Weisbrot, M., (2014), “Greece: Signs of Growth as Austerity eases”, The Guardian, 23 January It was nearly four years ago that the Greek government negotiated its agreement with the IMF for a harsh austerity program that was ostensibly designed to resolve its budget problems.  Many economists, when we saw the plan, knew immediately that Greece was beginning a long journey into darkness that would last for many years.  This was …Read More