DiEM25
The Modest Proposal travels to the Netherlands: Groningen on Thursday 6th October and Amsterdam on Friday 7th October
, 05/10/2011
If you happen to be in the Netherlands today and tomorrow (Thu 6/10 and Fri 7/10) and wish to participate in a debate on the Modest Proposal, this is your chance. Come along. The adjacent poster concerns the Groningen event. Click here for an interesting introduction to this event. For the Amsterdam debate-presentation that follows […]
Europe’s Greek Moment: My interview with TrumanFactor – in English and in Spanish
, 02/10/2011
TrumanFactor interviewed me on Greece, Europe and the Modest Proposal. Click here for the english version and here for the spanish translation.
How it all started in Greece and how it will spread to France; unless Europe changes course
, 01/10/2011
Interviewed in the London office of UNITE (the trades union):
Revised program for the Copenhagen debate on the Modest Proposal: Friday 30th September
, 28/09/2011
The Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS) has the pleasure of inviting you to a seminar on: To Bond or Not to Bond? Could Eurobonds Save the Euro from its Debt Crisis? Friday, 30 September 2011 09.00-12.00 Danish Institute for International Studies, Main Auditorium, Strandgade 71, ground floor, 1401 Copenhagen K
Two interviews: The gruesome Greek sideshow continues while the main game is played out off camera
, 28/09/2011
Once more, Athens is replete with TV crews from all over the world, eager to relate the latest in the long running saga of whether/when/how Greece will default. Meanwhile, the real game is being played out elsewhere, in the corridors of power in Frankfurt, Brussels, Berlin, Washington where no serious person bothers to discuss Greece […]
Arresting the Freefall rather than a Blueprint for the ‘Good Europe’: The Modest Proposal defended against C. Flower’s powerful critique
, 25/09/2011
C. Flower paid me the complement of penning a critique, entitled New Bottle , Old Keynesian Wine, of my Shellbourne Hotel talk (14th September 2011) as well as of the essence of our Modest Proposal. I reproduce this critique here in its entirety, followed by my reply. Before anything else is said, let me thank C. […]
Need a reminder of our era's political deficit? Here is a glimpse (dating to 1936)
, 24/09/2011
While we are lamenting our leaders’ lack of political will, nous and courage, it is both helpful and a little sad to compare and contrast the politicians in charge during this Crisis of ours with the generation of political leaders whose spirit was steeled during the previous Crisis, that of 1929. With no further ado, […]
A Crisis of Capitalism: Guest post by Riccardo Bellofiore
, 23/09/2011
Last Wednesday, The Guardian published a piece by friend and colleague Riccardo Bellofiore entitled A Crisis of Capitalism. Here I paste an extended version of that piece, which also mentions our Modest Proposal. Enjoy!
Understanding the Euro Crisis: A talk at the Shellbourne Hotel, Dublin
, 23/09/2011
The good people at www.politico.ie took the trouble of transcribing my unscripted talk the other day on Understandind the Euro Crisis, presented at the Shellbourne Hotel, Dublin. You can read it by visiting their site here and you can in fact hear me deliver the talk by clicking here. I also paste the text of […]
The Global Minotaur versus the Age of Greed: A debate on the ABC Radio National's Late Night Live, chaired by Philip Adams
, 19/09/2011
Since the late 80s one of my daily pleasures has been to listen to Late Night Live, the ABC Radio National's daily program in which Philip Adams, the renowned Australian film maker, author and public intellectual reviews the current political, social and cultural climate, talks to authors about a great variety of interesting books (that [...]To use it it would have to be prepared to lose it: Why Germany is not using its power to fix the euro
, 19/09/2011
Last week, on the Jeff Randall show (Sky News), we discussed the looming Greek default but, more importantly, the question of why is Germany dithering. Toward the end of the interview I tried to make the point that Europe’s tratedy is that those with the power to redesign, and in so doing fix, the eurosystem […]
Geithner Shunned: What the US Treasury Secretary said to the Europeans and how they shunned him at our collective peril
, 19/09/2011
Back in the era of unquestioned US hegemony, many Europeans (and I include myself) dreamed of the moment when our leaders would find it in their hearts publically to repudiate the heavy handed advice of a high ranking visiting American dignitary. This weekend, the dream came true. Only it turned out a terrible nightmare.
In Ireland
, 14/09/2011
If you are wondering why I have been keeping quiet this week it is because I am in Dublin on a series of talks, interviews and discussions through which I hope (a) to spread the word for the Modest Proposal and (b) to learn from this amazing small country’s experiences. Today’s (personal) highlight was meeting […]
Guest Post: Jerry Goldstein is sure of a Greek default, cannot see the eurozone breaking up but can see no way out of the mire either
, 12/09/2011
GUEST POST by Jerry Goldstein, ex City banker and regular correspondent of this blog I see the probability of Greece defaulting at 1, on a scale of zero to one. But I do not necessarily think this is sufficient to cause a breakup of the eurozone. Whilst a Greek default will cause volatility to spike […]
Can Germany save Europe without jeopardising its own finances? Most certainly! An interview with Vorwaerts, the SPD's official newspaper
, 11/09/2011
During August I was interviewed by Markus Schöning on behalf of Vorwaerts, the SPD’s official newspaper. Here is what I had to say (in German only). Interview zur Eurokrise mit Yanis Varoufakis Europa als Dampfmaschine Markus Schöning • 09. September 2011 Eurobondes sinnvoll gestalten. Foto: Dr. Klaus-Uwe Gerhardt/pixelio.de Markus Schöning: Angesichts des verstärkten Engagements der Europäischen […]
Is Greece finished?
, 11/09/2011
In one sense Greece was finished the moment the Great Recession cut its growth rate (in the second quarter of 2009) from among the highest in Europe to almost zero.
On the newly established Council for the Future of Europe's Manifesto: An assessment
, 08/09/2011
A new think tank is in town with a heartfelt mission to save Europe. Its name: Council for the Future of Europe. It was set up recently by über-rich Nicolas Berggruen, a German entrepreneur who, commendably, is left dissatisfied by his billions and wants to spend part of them to create a better world. (See […]
Schauble, Keynes and a shadowy HM Treasury Official
, 08/09/2011
Back in 1930, a policy pamphlet was published, one either inspired or even written by John Maynard Keynes. Its title: We Can Conquer Unemployment. We mobilised for war. Let us now mobilise for prosperity! Why is this relevant?
Eurobonds: Not a question of ‘whether’ but one of ‘who will issue them’ and ‘who will back them’
, 05/09/2011
by Yanis Varoufakis and Stuart Holland Ever since the Crisis erupted, Europe’s leaders have reacted to the suggestion that eurobonds are sine qua non with a familiar repertoire of responses. First came denial of the need for eurobonds, coupled with a snub for those who proposed them. More recently, we witnessed depression at the realisation […]
Hour long radio interview (91.5FM WNYE New York) on the eurozone crisis and the Modest Proposal
, 29/08/2011
Hour long radio interview (91.5FM WNYE New York, broadcasting across NY, NJ, CT, and PA) in which I discussed the euro crisis, explained why eurobonds are essential as long as they are not guaranteed by the eurozone’s member-states, and argued in favour of the continuing appeal of the Modest Proposal (click here for the Levy Institute […]
To the Finland Station: The undoing of the Menshevik Approach to the Euro Crisis
, 27/08/2011
When Lenin alighted on 3rd April 1917 at Petrograd’s Finland Station, a train was set in motion that upstaged, and eventually overturned, the Mensheviks’ plan for an ‘evolutionary’ path from absolute Tsarism to some form of social democracy. Ironically, it took a Finnish social democrat (newly elected finance minister Jutta Urpilainen) to derail once and […]
The Euro Crisis Revisited: Radio interview with Doug Henwood for Behind the News, KPFA 94.1FM
, 22/08/2011
In this half-hour interview (jump to 29′ 10”) Doug Henwood gave me an opportunity to lay bare the pieces of the euro crisis jigsaw puzzle but also to expand upon the inter-connections with the global crisis and its US menifestation in particular. Any comments?
The Modest Proposal as the last shot left in the eurozone’s barrel: Guest post by George Krimpas
, 20/08/2011
The term ‘eurobond’ is bandied about ever so lightly. This is dangerous.