Blyth, Mark, (2015), “A Pain in the Athens”, Foreign Affairs Journal, 7 July When the anti-austerity party Syriza came to power in Greece in January 2015, Cornel Ban and I wrote in a Foreign Affairs article that, at some point, Europe was bound to face an Alexis Tsipras, the party’s leader and Greek prime minister, “because there’s only so long you can ask people to vote for impoverishment today based …Read More

Friedman, George, (2015), “The Greek Vote and the EU Miscalculation“, Stratfor Geopolitical Weekly, 7 July In a result that should surprise no one, the Greeks voted to reject European demands for additional austerity measures as the price for providing funds to allow Greek banks to operate. There are three reasons this should have been no surprise. First, the ruling Coalition of the Radical Left, or Syriza party, is ruling because it …Read More

Mohamed A. El-Erian, (2015),  “Greece’s Turn to Resist a Referendum”, BloombergView, 18 May. In 2011, overwhelming opposition from Greece’s European partners forced Prime Minister George Papandreou to withdraw a proposal for a referendum seeking a “clear mandate” from voters to carry out European Union-backed policies. Last week, the opposite scenario unfolded: Germany suggested that the Greek government hold a plebiscite on whether to accept creditors’ demands for economic reforms or ultimately …Read More

Mitchell, B. (2015) “Syriza must stay left of the line – more is at stake than Greece“, Bill Mitchell Blog, 24 March.   There were regional elections in the autonomous community of Andalusia (Spain) over the weekend which saw the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) hold onto power. The results showed that the left-wing political party – Podemos – which received nearly 8 per cent of the Spanish vote (5 …Read More

Codogno, L. & De Grauwe, P. (2015) “Both Greece and its creditors must compromise to prevent the risk of a Grexit“, LSE EUROPP, 26 March.   Greece and its creditors have been engaged in a two-month standoff over the release of further financial assistance to the country. Lorenzo Codogno and Paul De Grauwe write that with no agreement yet reached, the possibility of Greece leaving the euro has now become …Read More

Discussion: Where Now For Greece And The Eurozone?, Social Europe Journal, 23 March 2015.   In this first episode of Social Europe Talk (SET) economists James K. Galbraith and David Lizoain as well as Maria Joao Rodrigues, the Vice-President of the S&D Group in the European Parliament, join Social Europe Editor-in-Chief Henning Meyer to discuss ‘Where now for Greece and the Eurozone?’

Dimitri Β. Papadimitriou (2015) “Greek Debt: Do the Right Thing“, The World Post US, 18 March.   “Greece’s government and people have indulged in excesses and corruption; now it is time to pay the price.” The argument for full repayment of Greece’s debt is well known, easily understood, and widely accepted, particularly in Germany. Sacrifice, austerity and repayment are righteous, fair, and just. That view is coloring this and next …Read More