Koulovatianos, Christos, Tsoukalas,  John, (2015), “Why debt sustains corruption in Greece and vice versa”, Voxeu, 20 July As numerous Greek MEPs opposed the Eurozone summit deal, implementation will require a broad coalition of political parties. This column argues that corruption in Greek politics will prevent the formation of such a coalition. The heavy debt service leads parties to invent extreme ways of responding to super-austerity and to strongly oppose direct reforms that …Read More

Rossman, Peter, (2015), “Greek Theme Park ‘Dettoland’: A Modest Anti-crisis Proposal”, Social Europe Journal, 20 July Where there’s a will there’s a way, Chancellor Merkel reminds us. Now that the IMF has revisited the numbers and (again) come up with the unsurprising conclusion that Greek debt is hugely unsustainable, it’s time to revisit the proposal for a Greek asset fund. Like the debt sustainability figures based on growth and budget …Read More

Wren Lewis, Simon, (2015), “Ireland And Greece”, Social Europe Journal, 20 July Ireland is often regarded as a success story for Eurozone austerity, compared to the total failure of Greece. That can lead to nonsense like this: instead of whingeing, the Greeks should buckle under and get on with it as Ireland has done. An alternative narrative is to explain the different experience of the two economies by looking at structural …Read More

Gilbert, Mark, (2015), “One Thing Europe Got Right in Greece’s Crisis”, Bloomberg View, 16 July Greece’s slow-motion economic car crash is an ongoing debacle, but Europe’s success at ring-fencing the disaster has been remarkable. Judging from the currency market, the threat of contagion in Europe has steadily diminished month by month since March.Here’s a chart showing the monthly swings in the euro’s value against the dollar this year. Those trading ranges have …Read More

Beck, Thorsten, (2015), “Greece: And the can keeps on rolling…”, Voxeu, 15 July Monday’s deal was a political compromise consistent with the political constraints of Greece and its creditors. It is doubtful, however, that it will provide a long-term solution to Greece’s economic crisis. At a minimum, the momentum should be used to eliminate the option of Grexit once and for all. The bank-sovereign ties should be cut to turn …Read More

Blanchard, Olivier, (2015), “Greece: Past Critiques and the Path Forward”, IMF Direct, 9 July All eyes are on Greece, as the parties involved continue to strive for a lasting deal, spurring vigorous debate and some sharp criticisms, including of the IMF.In this context, I thought some reflections on the main critiques could help clarify some key points of contention as well as shine a light on a possible way forward. …Read More

Gros, Daniel, (2015), “Europe’s Greek Failure”, Project Syndicate, 9 July Narratives matter, especially when they are intertwined with hard interests. As Greece and its creditors court catastrophe, we are getting a clear picture of how conflicting narratives can lead to a lose-lose result. The facts are indisputable. In early 2010, when the Greek government could no longer finance itself, it turned to its European partners and the International Monetary Fund …Read More