Spiegel, P. (2015) “Will the “troika” return to Athens?”, Financial Times, 09 March. Among the issues plaguing deliberations over the way forward on Greece’s bailout is how the country’s international creditors can verify its economic and fiscal situation without sending monitors to Athens– which would look very much like the return of the hated “troika”. Alexis Tsipras, the new Greek prime minister, has declared the death of the troika …Read More
Greece goes back into depression – having never left it
Mitchell, B. (2015) “Greece goes back into depression – having never left it“, Bill Mitchell Blog, 07 March. Last Friday (March 6, 2015), Eurostat unveiled the latest – National Accounts estimates for the fourth-quarter 2014. All the Greek news this week will be about the – Letter – that the Greek Finance Minister sent to the president of the Eurogroup, in which he outlined 7 reform proposals. But it …Read More
The Greek Crisis: Time to Rethink the Concept of “Money
Auerback, M. (2015) “The Greek Crisis: Time to Rethink the Concept of “Money“, Institute for New Economic Thinking, 07 March. As the economies of Europe stagger, and Greece in particular staggers under the weight of a depression exceeding in scale the devastation of the 1930s, it appears difficult to see a way out of this agonizing cycle of repeated financial meltdowns. In fact, there are creative ways to solve …Read More
Library » Greece » Economy » Politics » Opinion Articles
Sovereign default and debt restructuring: Was Argentina’s ‘haircut’ excessive?
Edwards, S. (2015) “Sovereign default and debt restructuring: Was Argentina’s ‘haircut’ excessive?“, VoxEU Organisation, 04 March. There were 24 sovereign defaults and debt restructurings between 1997 and 2013. Using data on 180 debt restructurings – for both sovereign bonds and sovereign syndicated bank loans – this column argues that the roughly 75% ‘haircut’ Argentina imposed on its creditors in 2005 was an outlier. Greece’s ‘haircut’ of roughly 64% in …Read More
Library » Greece » Economy » Politics » Scientific Articles
The end of fiscal waterboarding?
Gros, D. (2015) “The end of fiscal waterboarding?“, Economic Policy, CEPS Commentaries, 23 February. In this Commentary, Daniel Gros argues that linking the primary surplus demanded of the new Greek government to the state of the economy is a sound approach. Some flexibility is warranted on this account, but the concept should be used to distribute the effort better over time, not to wriggle out of it. Relevant …Read More
Assessing Syriza’s first month in office: why Greece remains a long way from a break with austerity
Exadaktylos, T. (2015) “Assessing Syriza’s first month in office: why Greece remains a long way from a break with austerity“, LSE EUROPP, 03 March. The new Greek government, led by the Coalition of the Radical Left (Syriza), won power on 25 January. Theofanis Exadaktylos assesses the government’s first month in office. He notes that while Syriza won the election with a commitment to renegotiate the country’s bailout agreement, the …Read More
‘Foreign’ Money and ‘Austerity’ Haven’t Caused Greek Stagnation
Jerry, J. (2015) “‘Foreign’ Money and ‘Austerity’ Haven’t Caused Greek Stagnation“, Real Clear Markets News Site, 26 February. The on-going “Greek Financial Crisis” is chock full of lessons about the nature of the entity that serves the functions of money in an economy. Historically, people have chosen to use as money everything from notched wooden sticks to metal coins to pieces of paper printed by governments. When alternatives have …Read More
Library » Greece » Economy » Opinion Articles
Greece’s stance against crippling austerity is a fight to save all Europe
Weisbrot, M. (2015) “Greece’s stance against crippling austerity is a fight to save all Europe“, Tribune News Service, 26 February. Greece has been dragged through a lot of mud in the media over the past few years because previous governments over-borrowed, and that contributed to the initial crisis that – we should remember – Spain, Portugal, Italy and almost everyone else in the Eurozone had to go through. But …Read More
Why Marxism fails in the Eurozone
Finkeldey, J. (2015) “Why Marxism fails in the Eurozone“, The European Magazine, 27 February. Yanis Varoufakis dubbed himself an “erratic Marxist” and presented his interpretation of Marx in detail. But his dialectical spirit is unlikely to succeed. Karl Marx’s dream has come true: Europe is suffering in a long recession and some European capitals are under siege by indignant citizens. But are we really on the brink of disintegration …Read More
Note from Berlin: The Greek compromise
Dullien, S. (2015) “Note from Berlin: The Greek compromise“, European Council on Foreign Relations, 26 February. When the eurozone finance ministers came up with a compromise with the new Greek government on the rescue package last week, the German media almost unanimously applauded Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble and Chancellor Angela Merkel. Although, later, there was some grumbling about the details of the list of reforms, the general tough stance …Read More