Sandbu, Μ. (2015) Four misperceptions about Greece, Financial Times, 23 February. At best, it’s the end of the beginning On Friday, Free Lunch called the eurogroup meeting on Greece “the next of many high noons”, and so it will prove this week. Much like previous “breakdowns in talks” were nothing of the sort, Friday’s “agreement” was not one either. The FT‘s Peter Spiegel gives a quick summary of what …Read More
Mauro, Ρ. (2015) “Greece’s Reprieve: In Praise of Kicking the Can Down the Road“, Peterson Institute, RealTime Economic Issues Watch, 24 February. The melodrama in Greece has produced demands that Athens and its European partners take decisive action to fix a complicated situation once and for all. In fact, kicking the can down the road—as the players did recently to avert a financial crisis—is an underrated and long-standing feature …Read More
Michael Hudson says Greece’s Finance Minister Varoufakis is proposing austerity on the banking class rather than on the working class to balance the budget. SHARMINI PERIES, EXEC. PRODUCER, TRNN: Welcome to The Real News Network. I’m Sharmini Peries, coming to you from Baltimore. The four-month extension secured by the Greek finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, on Friday came with the condition that Greece provide a list of measures to quell …Read More
Galbraith, J. (2015) “Reading The Greek Deal Correctly“, Social Europe Journal, 23 February. On Friday as news of the Brussels deal came through, Germany claimed victory and it is no surprise that most of the working press bought the claim. They have high authorities to quote and to rely on. Thus from London The Independent reported: several analysts agreed that the results of the talks amounted to a humiliating …Read More
Crook, C. (2015) “What Germany Owes Greece“, BloombergView, 19 February. How much does it matter, if at all, that Greece’s demand for a new bailout program with softer terms is being pressed by a new government, elected for that very purpose — a government that retains solid support even as its standoff with other European Union governments drags on? How much does democracy matter in a situation like this? …Read More
Weisbrot, M. (2015) “Who’s Extorting Whom? It’s All About Coercion“, The Huffington Post, 17 February. The Economist‘s Feb. 6 cover displayed the Venus de Milo statue pointing a revolver, with the headline “Go ahead, Angela, make my day.” In the editors’ upside-down world, Greece is threatening Europe, or at least Germany. Really? On Monday, Feb. 16, European officials “handed Athens an ultimatum: Agree by Friday to continue with a …Read More
Leonitsis, V. (2015) “The radicalisation of lower middle class Greek families was the key to Syriza’s victory, LSE EUROPP, 13 February. A number of commentators have written on the extent to which Syriza managed to attract the backing of a wide section of Greek society in its election victory on 25 January. Vasilis Leontitsis writes that one of the key dynamics in the election was the support Syriza received …Read More
Weisbrot, M. (2015) “Greece: ECB Kicks Syriza in the Face; Syriza Turns the Other Cheek“, The Huffington Post, 05 February. On Wednesday the European Central Bank (ECB) announced that it would no longer accept Greek government bonds and government-guaranteed debt as collateral. Although Greece would still be eligible for other, emergency lending from the Central Bank, the immediate effect of the announcement was to raise Greek borrowing costs and …Read More
Χατζησταύρου, Φ. (2015) “Je suis Dijsselbloem ou Varoufakis?“, Protagon Website, 04 February. Η πρώτη συνάντηση Βαρουφάκη-Ντάισελμπλουμ φέρνει στη δημόσια συζήτηση ένα θέμα που μέχρι τώρα ήταν αντικείμενο ανάλυσης κυρίως των ενασχολούντων με τη θεσμική λειτουργία της ΕΕ στα οικονομικά θέματα. Ευκαιρία, λοιπόν, να δούμε ποιο είναι το πρόβλημα, γιατί υπάρχει πρόβλημα, και ποιες οι συνέπειές του μέχρι σήμερα. Από το 2010 και μετά οι ευρωπαϊκές κυβερνήσεις ομόφωνα προχώρησαν στην …Read More
Stiglitz, J. (2015) “A Greek Morality Tale“, Social Europe Journal, 04 February. When the euro crisis began a half-decade ago, Keynesian economists predicted that the austerity that was being imposed on Greece and the other crisis countries would fail. It would stifle growth and increase unemployment – and even fail to decrease the debt-to-GDP ratio. Others – in the European Commission, the European Central Bank, and a few universities …Read More
