Year: 2012
Depression in the Eurozone’s Periphery and how to restore Aggregate Demand without creating new bubbles: My reply to Kantoos Economics
, 30/07/2012
Preamble: Kantoos Economics recently posted an article discussing points of agreement and points of disagreement between us regarding the restoration of growth in Greece, both in the short and in the long run. Here is my reply. The problem with any Crisis is that it eliminates the type of scarcity which helps two crucial markets […]
23 crucial days for Greece
, 28/07/2012
On 20th August, the Greek government will have to borrow 3.2 billion from one arm of the Eurozone (from the EFSF) in order to repay another (the ECB). Yet Greece is insolvent. The very idea of an insolvent entity borrowing more from a community, like the Eurozone, in order to repay that same community is […]
A Mental Experiment for establishing the relative mood for solving the Crisis in Europe, in Britain & in the USA
, 23/07/2012
I have a hunch: that the Eurozone’s profound difference to both the United States and Britain is that, unlike these anglosaxon ‘currency unions’, the Eurozone’s real elite does not want the Crisis to disappear quickly and painlessly. In this post I offer a mental experiment that will help each and every reader rule on the […]
On the solvability of the Euro Crisis and the mood in Germany: Concluding my debate with Kantoos Economics
, 22/07/2012
Kantoos Economics (KE) replied to my post on what constitutes a rational and decent critique of Germany’s stance during this Euro Crisis. After a series of exchanges between us, I think that this dialogue is now reaching its natural limits (click the following for a blow by blow perusal of our debate: KE1 was KE’s original […]
What the EIB makes the ECB unmakes: The latest from the Greek front
, 22/07/2012
“We just showed that good news is possible in Greece”, said a beaming Greek minister the other day when it was announced that the European Investment Bank (EIB) was about to start funding investments in Greece again, after it withdrew toward the end of 2011 (in fear of losing its triple-A rating by associating itself […]
Bankruptocracy in the Greek Sector of Bailoutistan: The aftermath of the Reuters Report on Piraeus Bank
, 18/07/2012
You may have read the shocking story by Reuters on the ponzi scheme three (or more) Greek banks concocted in order to seem to raise more capital, without diluting the bankers’ stake in ‘their’ bankrupt banks. I have nothing to add to this excellent report by the folks at Reuters (except perhaps to suggest that […]
It is now official: The Eurozone's monetary transmission system is broken
, 17/07/2012
Under normal conditions, the interest rates that you and I must pay on a home loan, a car loan, our credit card, a business loan are pegged onto two crucial rates. One is the rate that banks charge one another in order to borrow from each other. The other is the Central Bank’s overnight rate. Alas, […]
Review of the Global Minotaur by Raja Junankar, for the ELRR
, 16/07/2012
This review of the Global Minotaur (click here for the Global Minotaur page) is special to me. The reason? Raja Junankar was one of the lecturers at the University of Essex while an undergraduate, back in the mists of time (1978-1981). Later, when I returned to Essex (after a year at Birmingham University), it was Raja who […]
'The Global Minotaur': A 'Great Transformation' for our Times – Review by Boris Stremlin for Left Eye On Books
, 12/07/2012
Left Eye on Books just published a generous and detailed review of my Global Minotaur authored by Boris Stremlin.
Interviewed by Doug Henwood on my new position as Economist-In-Residence at Valve Software
, 11/07/2012
A discussion with Doug Henwood on why I accepted the position of Economist-In-Residence at Valve Software. Jump to 33’40” to hear my take on the company’s anarchosyndicalist management structure and the scope for original economic research it provides. (Please forgive the poor sound quality – courtesy of a low quality skype line). See also this […]
Criticising Germany: Three principles for the fair assessment of proud nations
, 09/07/2012
Generalising is the first step toward racism. Every sentence beginning with “The Germans believe this” or “The Greeks do that” is an initial slide on a slippery slope leading, eventually, to bigotry. As I have argued before (click here for a video version) there is no such thing as the Germans, or the Brits, or the Greeks […]
The Latin Troika's Coup: what is left of the joy it generated a week later
, 04/07/2012
The half life of joy and celebration, following Europe’s Summits, is continuing to slide. The 19th such Summit since the Crisis erupted was, as I wrote here, the most successful (in that it produced, for the very first time in two and a half years) a decision that is not wholly fraudulent, irrational and irrelevant. It was, […]
Unanimity is not essential to cutting the ‘Gordian debt’: our letter to the FT as published today
, 02/07/2012
The other day I posted a letter that Stuart Holland and I sent to the Financial Times. Today it was published. Click here for the FT or…
June 2012 EU Summit Verdict: A good decision that will, probably, go to waste
, 29/06/2012
Mrs Merkel went to Brussels intent on striking two birds with one stone, pick up her bag immediately and return to Berlin with no further ado. The stone was the fraudulent re-packaging of existing structural and EIB funds (with the addition of a paltry 10 billion euros) into a grandiose-sounding ‘Growth Pact’. The two birds […]
Saving the Eurozone does not depend on Germany: Our letter to the Financial Times
, 28/06/2012
From Professors Stuart Holland and Yanis Varoufakis Europe is deadlocked in assuming that resolving the Eurozone crisis must be unanimous. Yet it does not need this. It could do so by ‘enhanced cooperation’ which needs support by nine or more member states while, on a motion for an enhanced cooperation policy, only those supporting it […]
A(nother) PROPOSAL FOR SAVING THE EURO ZONE: Guest post by Marshall Auerback
, 28/06/2012
This blog was established, initially, for the purposes of proposing solutions to the euro crisis; and in particular to propagate our Modest Proposal for Resolving the Euro Crisis. Two and a half years later, the eurozone is crashing and burning, while European politicians are steadfastly refusing to adopt a systemic solution. Those of us who […]
Open letter to a good friend and colleague (who happened to become Greece’s Finance Minister yesterday…)
, 27/06/2012
Dear Yanni, On the one hand I am writing to congratulate you. And on the other to express my disdain towards those who handed my friend the good ship’s wheel after the vessel has struck the iceberg. Utterly familiar with your effervescent optimism, I know you mean it when you declare confidence in Greece’s capacity […]
Greece is ungovernable (while the euro's derailment continues): On ABC tv 7.30 Report
, 26/06/2012
Following the latest Greek election, I was interviewed on the ABC’s 7.30 Report. In the interview (which you can watch here), I presented a gloomy, yet realistic, view that it really matters little now what happens in Greece. “Greece is finished”, I argued, as long as the derailment of Europe’s euro-system is proceeding unhindered. Read […]
And the Good Ship Greece Sails On: ‘Letter’ to an italian colleague
, 24/06/2012
A few weeks ago I was approached by Andrea Adriatico, a theatre director from Bologna’s Teatri Di Vita with an interesting request: Could I write a ‘letter’ to some fictional Italian economics professor, outlining on a colleague-to-colleague basis, the Greek ‘situation’ as it is experienced by a Greek economics professor. That letter would then be read […]
Introducing VALVEconomics – my new blog with research notes on digital economies
, 22/06/2012
AND NOW FOR SOMETHING DIFFERENT…
Greece, Italy, Spain, Germany in the shadow of a disintegrating euro: Interviewed by Doug Henwood
, 22/06/2012
Click here for the 30 minute interview (and look for the 21st June show).
Mariana Mazzucato on the role of the EIB in spurring Investment-led Growth
, 21/06/2012
Professor Mariana Mazzucato, of Sussex University, has produced pivotal research on the role that public financing plays in fostering not only investment but also competition. Here she is appearing on Bloomberg to explain the importance of the European Investment Bank as a potential driver of growth, innovation and competition in the European Union. She also […]
My duel with Deutsche Bank exec, Wolfgang Nowak (on CBC Radio)
, 21/06/2012
Here is my reply to Wolfgang Nowak, Deutsche Bank executive and former Merkel advisor, telling CBC that Greece should be thrown out of the Eurozone. Click here for Mr Nowak’s audio