Stockman, D. (2015) “History In the Balance: Why Greece Must Repudiate Its “Banker Bailout” Debts And Exit The Euro“, David Stockman’s Contra Corner Blog, 02 February. Now and again history reaches an inflection point. Statesman and mere politicians, as the case may be, find themselves confronted with fraught circumstances and stark choices. February 2015 is one such moment. For its part, Greece stands at a fork in the road. Syriza can move aggressively to recover Greece’s …Read More
Who’s Unreasonable Now?
Krugman, P. (2015) “Who’s Unreasonable Now?“, The New York Times, 02 February. OK, so as I understand the latest from the new Greek government, Yanis Varoufakis is saying that he and his colleagues don’t care what happens to the headline value of the debt — if you want to claim that there has been no write-off, OK. What they want instead is substantive but not outrageous relief from the …Read More
Groundhog Day in Greece
Beck, Τ. (2015) “Groundhog Day in Greece, VoxEU Organisation, 02 February. The Greek-Troika conflict is roiling markets, boardrooms and cabinet offices around the world. Crises are best solved by recognising losses, allocating them and moving on, so the biggest risk, this column argues, is that a compromise kicks the can further down the road. As the can rolls on, the scenery becomes politically and socially less attractive – fuelling …Read More
Is SYRIZA just another Greek party that does not know what to do?
Moumoutzis, K. (2015) “Is SYRIZA just another Greek party that does not know what to do?“, Europe on the Strand Blog, 01 February. Less than a week after SYRIZA’s (Coalition of the Radical Left) electoral victory, uncertainty regarding the newly formed Greek government’s economic policy has increased. In a statement emailed to Bloomberg News, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said: ‘we need time to breathe and create our own …Read More
Will Syriza’s Victory in Greece Mean Easing Austerity?
Wright, Τ. (2015) “Will Syriza’s Victory in Greece Mean Easing Austerity?“, Newsweek, 29 January. At the weekend, Syriza and its leader Alexis Tsipras won a clear victory in the Greek elections and have formed a coalition government with the small right-wing party Independent Greeks, which is also anti-austerity and anti-bailout. Tsipras has a clear mandate to renegotiate Greek debt and its relationship with the European Central Bank (ECB). Much …Read More
Tsipras’s Debt Plan Sends Athens Stock Market Sliding
Aldermanjan, L. (2015) “Tsipras’s Debt Plan Sends Athens Stock Market Sliding“, The New York Times – International Business, 28 January. Investors made clear on Wednesday the depth of their concerns about Greece’s new leftist-led government, driving up its borrowing costs, pushing down stock prices and highlighting the risks in the country’s banking system. Despite some soothing words from Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who at the first meeting of his …Read More
How Greece Could Change the Future of Europe
Weisbrot, M. (2015) “How Greece Could Change the Future of Europe“, Vice News, Opinion & Analysis, 28 January. The Syriza party’s big win in Greece’s legislative election last weekend is a turning point in the long political fight over Europe’s botched recovery from the financial crisis and world recession of 2008-2009. The occasion presents a milestone for the eurozone, which has been plagued by mass unemployment and economic stagnation, …Read More
Why Europe Will Cave to Greece
Crook, C. (2015) “Why Europe Will Cave to Greece“, Bloomberg View, 28 January. A prediction for you: Greece and the European Union will split the difference in their quarrel over debt relief. What’s uncertain is how their respective governments will justify the new deal, and how much damage they’ll inflict on each other before accepting the inevitable. EU governments, with Germany in the lead, are saying that debt writedowns …Read More
Syriza’s victory underlines the transformation of Greek political culture during the crisis
Karoulas, G. (2015) “Syriza’s victory underlines the transformation of Greek political culture during the crisis, LSE EUROPP, 27 January. On 25 January, Syriza, led by Alexis Tsipras, won the 2015 Greek parliamentary elections and formed a new coalition government with another anti-austerity party, the Independent Greeks. Gerasimos Karoulas writes on the changes within Greek political culture which have occurred in Greece during the country’s economic crisis and which were …Read More
The Greek Stand-By Arrangement
Krugman, P. (2015) “The Greek Stand-By Arrangement“, The New York Times, 25 January. For tomorrow’s column I went back to the original, May 2010 stand-by arrangement for Greece, to see what the troika was demanding and predicting at the beginning of the austerity push, and how it compares with what actually happened. First of all, I quite often encounter people who claim that Greece never really did austerity. I …Read More