European Crisis
Complexity Fetishism, the Euro Crisis and a worthy challenge for 2012: Part B
, 20/01/2012
Part B: The lure of naive models in the era of financialisation (*) [(*) For the rationale of this four-part series of posts, as well as for Part A of the series, click here.] Preface: Part A of this four-part series of posts began by focusing on the problematic application of the analytic-synthetic method to socio-economic […]
Paradigm Lost: Rethinking Economics and Politics
, 19/01/2012
On 12th to 15th April, a conference will be organised by INET on this theme [Axica Conference Center, Berlin]. For the full program, see here. In its context, on the 13th, I shall be participating in the following session. As I am figuring out the content of my intervention, I would welcome your suggestions. Thanks […]
Two interviews on the futile PSI negotiations
, 19/01/2012
For the second interview click here: Europe as the world’s laughing stock
Why, for Greece’s and Europe’s sake, the PSI ought to fail
, 17/01/2012
Headlines the world over ‘agonise’, on behalf of Greece and Europe, on whether the PSI+ negotiations will come to a conclusion. The presumption is that, if they succeed, Greece will be reprieved and Europe (with France and the EFSF having recently been downgraded) will buy some much needed extra time to put, at long last, […]
On Sky TV discussing the PSI+ negotiations, interviewed by Jeff Randall
, 17/01/2012
PSI talks to resume in Athens over the haircut imposed on banks by the EU in October 2011. Back then, Mrs Merkel and MR Sarkozy forced the hand of the IIF’s head, Mr Dallara, to accept the notion of a ‘voluntary’ 50% haircut on the face value of Greek government bonds (except those not owned […]
On the true causes behind France’s downgrade
, 14/01/2012
“[T]he financial problems facing the eurozone are as much a consequence of rising external imbalances and divergences in competitiveness between the eurozone’s core and the so-called “periphery.” As such, we believe that a reform process based on a pillar of fiscal austerity alone risks becoming self-defeating, as domestic demand falls in line with consumers’ rising concerns […]
A brief note on Tobin’s Tax and Merkozy’s naked cynicism
, 12/01/2012
Tobin’s financial transactions’ tax was a simple, down-to-earth, logical proposal for dealing with the ridiculous volatility that became the norm in the era of the Global Minotaur (my metaphor for the way in which the combination of US trade deficits and capital flows into Wall Street kept the global economy going between the early 1970s […]
Greece’s PSI is Dead on Arrival: An error in search of a rationale but also a failure that may prove a harbinger for the Modest Proposal
, 11/01/2012
A brief history of Greece’s PSI In the beginning there was Wholesale Denial.
Complexity Fetishism, the Euro Crisis and a worthy challenge for 2012: Part A
, 08/01/2012
Preface: Before 2012 once again embroils us fully into the ongoing saga of the eurozone’s Crisis and its global ramifications, I thought it might be a good idea to start the year on a reflective mood. The topic I chose is complexity and the inadequate responses to it that have landed us in a mire of […]
Ending 2011 with a fable for our times
, 23/12/2011
As 2011 is drawing to a close, with the ECB only having managed to paper over the deepening cracks of the eurozone, it is time to allow ourselves to abandon the barricades for ten days or so. If the soldiers in the Great War’s killing fields could maintain a humane ceasefire, tend to the wounded, […]
The race to lend Greece: A short story by Klaus Kastner
, 18/12/2011
In this remarkable short story, Klaus Kastner (Kleingut) offers a fictionalised account of how Europe’s banks channelled billions to their Greek counter parties. It makes for excellent cross reading with my recent take on the Ant and the Grasshopper fable. [Click here for Klaus’ original post.)
NEVER BAILED OUT: Europe's ants and grasshoppers revisited
, 15/12/2011
A new take on Aesop’s tale, tailor-made for our ‘European Moment in History’, at a time when Europe’s collapse is being guaranteed by the dominance of the wrong narrative. What follows is an attempt at an alternative take; one that is more in tune with a decent future for Europe.
No plan for either Europe or Greece: Guest post by Jerry Goldstein
, 13/12/2011
In the interests of fostering dialogue on the issues that matter, I welcome today’s blog entry from long time contributor (and regular critic of my scribblings) Jerry Goldstein. Jerry has a strong background in banking but, and this is highly pertinent, spends most of his time in Athens.
The Modest Proposal in France (plus a supportive article in the Irish Times)
, 13/12/2011
The Modest Proposal can now be read in French (click Une modeste proposition pour surmonter la crise de l’euro), courtesy of Aurore Lalucq of the Veblen Institute (www.veblen-institute.org ). [Here is a recent mention in Le Monde.] And while we are at it, Fintan O’Toole has recently canvassed for the Modest Proposal in an article […]
What the ECB ought to be doing now so as to end the Crisis without Treaty changes, debt buybacks, haircuts or fiscal transfers
, 10/12/2011
In reply to the “Critique on the Modest Proposal” by Andreas Koutras[1] If you think that the Euro-17 Treaty change agreed yesterday will help overcome the eurozone’s Crisis, read no further. If, however, you think that the solution lies not in Treaty changes, but requires other means, including an active role to be played by […]
The essence of the New Eurozone, as envisaged by the latest Treaty Change. Guest post by Joseph Halevi
, 09/12/2011
My good friend, co-author and interlocutor extraordinaire, Joseph Halevi, spends half the year in a small town on the shores of an Italian lake. Upon hearing of the latest Treaty changes to which the euro 17 nations agreed today, he sent me the following message. I can think of no better or more analytically astute […]
The Modest Proposal in the European Parliament: Varoufakis and Holland, on video, presenting
, 08/12/2011
On Thursday 1st December, Stuart Holland and I presented our Modest Proposal to members of the European Parliament. Here is a compilation of one of our presentations – the one featured was hosted by the EU Parliament’s Left Caucus. (While I believe that the eurozone is probably incapable of adopting a rational solution package, like […]
Two eurocrisis guest posts: Diagnosis (by Jan Toporowski) and cure (by Stuart Holland)
, 06/12/2011
While preparing for my tak at the LSE, organised by the Hellenic Observatory, I thought you may be interested in two guest posts. One is by Jan Toporowski (on the deeper causes of the eurozone crisis) and another by Stuart Holland (in which the author draws the parallel between the essence of our Modest Proposal […]
Of Debts and Denial: The Crisis in the context of the post-2008 world – Presentation at the LSE on Tuesday 6th December
, 02/12/2011
In London next Tuesday? Perhaps you may want to come along to this talk. I shall be using the occassion to make the basic claims that: The eurozone, in its original/present form, could never survive the shock of the Crash of 2008, Greece was just as much of a problem for the eurozone as Germany […]
Eurobonds that can work now! A critique of the European Commission’s Green Paper on ‘Stability’ Bonds, by Stuart Holland
, 30/11/2011
Today, Stuart Hoilland and I are in Brussels to talk with euro-MPs about our Modest Proposal. My simple brief is to impress upon them that, at the eleventh hour, ECB-bonds are sine qua non for saving the euro-system. We need, in short, a simple and boring common bond that is guaranteed solely by the only […]
Abandoning a sinking ship? A plan for leaving the euro
, 27/11/2011
As regulars of this blog know, I am of the view that the eurozone’s collapse will be a harbinger of a postmodern 1930s. While virulently opposed to the eurozone’s creation, in its time of crisis I have been campaigning for saving the euro. Of course, as Alain Parguez wrote aptly here, it is impossible to […]
A fresh proposal for escaping the euro crisis. Guest post by Alain Parguez
, 25/11/2011
The following proposal is due to Alain Parguez, Emeritus Professor of Economics, University of Franche-Comté, Besançon-France ( www.neties.com/parguez ). Professor Parguez has been a longstanding critique of European Union affairs. His incisive critique of the eurozone’s architecture predates by many years the current Crisis. Always fascinated by his views , I am grateful for the […]