DiEM25
“Austerity vs. Growth – A False Dilemma?”, OECD FORUM, 28th May
, 29/05/2013
A debate on whether the world in general and Europe in particular needs more or less austerity was held yesterday in the context of the 2013 OECD Forum. Below, you can find my answer to the moderator’s question regarding what alternatives there are for the Eurozone to more or less austerity. (For a list of […]
Monetising the… ECB: The latest insult to be added to Greece’s multiplying injuries
, 20/05/2013
Last week another installment of the cruel theatre of the absurd, also known as the ‘Greek Rescue’ (and more recently re-released as ‘Greece’s success story’), was delivered silently: Not for the first time, the bankrupt Greek state borrowed from one arm of the Eurozone to give to another, with massive interest to boot. To be […]
The Utopia of Democracy: May 12th to 18th in Zagreb
, 08/05/2013
Beginning this coming Sunday 12th May, and lasting all of next week, the 6th Subversive Festival will be held in Zagreb. This year’s general theme is: THE UTOPIA OF DEMOCRACY. Speakers will include Tariq Ali, Oliver Stone, Susan George, Franco Bifo, Alexis Tsipras, Jean Luc Melenchon, Eric O. Wright. Slavoj Zizek and… yours truly. It promises […]
Macroeconomic experiments: Abenomics versus Euro-austerity
, 03/05/2013
The ABC’s (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) online periodical, THE DRUM, commissioned me to write an article comparing and contrasting the policy responses to the Crisis of Japan and of the Eurozone. Click here for the ABC’s website. Or read on below…
Taking stock: May Day video discussion with Unite Solidarity International
, 02/05/2013
The video recording of my discussion with Andrew Brady, of USI, below is for ‘true believers’ only. It is a talk from the heart about the Eurozone Crisis on the day when labour around the world heralds the obligation and asserts the right of working people to demand a re-think of the social relations governing […]
Intransigent Bundesbank: Mr Jens Weidmann’s surreptitious campaign to bring back the (greater) Deutsch Mark
, 27/04/2013
Any fair minded reading of the Bundesbank’s latest Constitutional Court deposition must lead to one of two conclusions: Either the Bundesbank has failed to recognise the existentialist threat to the Eurozone (that was placed in suspended animation during the past eight months or so), or the Bundesbank has intentionally opted for a strategy that will, sooner […]
Greek Banksters in Action: On the latest twist in the story of mafia-style terror spreading through the Greek polity
, 19/04/2013
Last November I posted a piece entitled A Small Victory for Press Freedom in Greece’s Struggle against Cleptocracy. That story concerned the courageous decision of Kostas Vaxevanis, one of Greece’s few, valiant investigative reporters, to publish the so-called Lagarde List; the list of Swiss bank account holders that Greece’s political class did its utmost to […]
Germany’s continued dependence on the Eurozone’s stragglers
, 12/04/2013
There is a growing consensus among commentators that Germany is de-coupling from France and from the rest of the Eurozone’s deficit regions. That German industry is turning instead to Asia and the rest of the world (even to Britain) for sources of demand for its net exports. However, the data suggests otherwise. Germany remains perfectly […]
On CBC Radio's 'Writers' Program: Interviewed by Eleanor Wachtel on the Global Minotaur
, 08/04/2013
Over the past few years, I have been interviewed extensively on my views of the Crisis and my writings. Of all these interviews, this is the one that I enjoyed giving the most. Eleanor Wachtel generously afforded me the space to talk about Greece, my parents (and my experiences of growing up in Greece in […]
'Coffee' with the General Secretary of the OECD, discussing the Global Crisis; plus a talk on the Global Crisis
, 30/03/2013
As some of this blog’s regulars may remember, on 1st March 2013, I was invited to meet with the General Secretary of the OECD, Mr Angel Gurria, to exchange views on the global economic crisis and to discuss alternative policies that may help end it. Now, the OECD has produced a brochure capturing these meetings as […]
What should the ESM's role be in stemming the banking crisis? A clarification
, 27/03/2013
I have noticed that a number of commentators have misunderstood my position on the Cyprus debacle and, more generally, on the question of how failed banks ought to be dealt with. As I made clear yesterday, I am all for bailing in the creditors, even the uninsured depositors, of failed banks. In fact I have […]
The Good, the Bad and the Extremely Ugly (aspects of the Cyprus deal)
, 25/03/2013
There are some good features of the Cyprus deal and, of course, some bad aspects. However, its repercussions for the Eurozone as a whole are exceptionally ugly and will, I submit, mark a turning point for Europe; a point at which Europe took a nasty turn toward a set of mutually disagreeable outcomes.
On Cyprus, the Eurozone and the Australian economy: A 30' minute interview by Doug Henwood
, 25/03/2013
Behind the News with Doug Henwood: March 21st 2013
On BBC Radio 4, talking Cyprus
, 23/03/2013
Here is the audio that goes with these thoughts on Cyprus:
While waiting for Cyprus' Godot….
, 23/03/2013
Here are some unedited thoughts I just shared with the BBC’s Radio 4 on Cyprus while we are all waiting for the new deal to shape up: Cyprus’ banking sector must shrink. As did Ireland’s, the hard way. What is essential, as every Irishman and woman will tell you, is that the politicians do not […]
Cyprus Parliament's gift to the Eurozone
, 20/03/2013
By voting down the bailout proposal that would violate the deposit insurance agreement between a member-state of the Eurozone and its citizens (see my earlier post for an analysis), Cyprus parliamentarians offered the Eurozone a reprieve from the stupidest and most potentially destructive Eurogroup decision since this Crisis began three years ago. Europe now has, thanks to […]
Cyprus’ Stability Levy: Another sad euphemism (updated on 18th March)
, 17/03/2013
They called it a ‘stability levy’, when they meant a tax on Cypriot depositors (including the savings of poor widows and small children) so that they spare holders of Cypriot government bonds (including hedge funds who are now having a party in Mayfair and New York) as well as minimise potential long-term losses by the […]
Lest we forget: The neglected roots of Europe’s slide to authoritarianism
, 14/03/2013
Europe is being torn apart by a titanic clash between (a) the unstoppable popular rage against misanthropic austerity policies and (b) our elites’ immovable commitment to more austerity. Precisely how this clash will play out no one knows, except of course that the odds do not seem to be on the side of the good. […]
From Contagion to Incoherence: Toward a model of the unfolding Eurozone Crisis
, 05/03/2013
This post offers readers a fully-fledged analytical model of the unfolding Eurozone Crisis. It begins with a macro-economic analysis of the Crisis’ causes and then, importantly, models the feedback between Europe’s institutional and policy responses and the contagion process that began with Greece. For the fully-fledged (wonkish) version of the paper, click here. What follows below […]
At the OECD, Paris, this Friday 1st March, speaking to: "The Euro Crisis, Asia's Woes and America's Dilemma in a Global Context"
, 26/02/2013
This coming Friday, 1st March, I shall be addressing the OECD on the need to re-think the Euro Crisis, Asia’s angst and America’s conundrum. My argument will be that markets cannot be trusted to correct the global imbalances underpinning our collective woes. Political action is needed at a global scale. Correction: In the original post, […]
On spontaneous order, Valve, the future of corporations, Hume, Smith, Marx and Hayek: A one hour chat with Russ Roberts on ECONTALK
, 25/02/2013
There is nothing more heartwarming than mutually beneficial exchanges with intellectually curious people with whom one disagrees strongly on some matters while sharing strong views and common concerns on others. Russell Roberts is Professor of Economics at George Mason University, and a Chicago PhD holder. Besides his academic credentials, he is the host of ECONTALK, a […]
Europe needs a hegemonic Germany
, 22/02/2013
For six decades Germany was being pampered by a hegemonic America that oversaw the write-off of its wartime debts, the reversal of Allied designs to de-industrialise it and, above all else, the constant generation of the global demand which allowed German manufacturers to concentrate on efficiently producing quality, desirable wares.
Economic illiteracy in the service of economic misanthropy: An Econ 101 reminder of the meaning of the multiplier for austerians
, 19/02/2013
Here is a quote from a recent pro-austerity article in an Establishment Greek newspaper: “Let us not forget that [Greece’s] primary surplus in 2009 was 10% and the result was a recession of 2.8%. Thus the fiscal multiplier was -3.5, not 0.5, not 0.75, not 1.7!” The author’s purpose, of course, was to argue that the […]