DiEM25
Why Eurobonds are Essential and Fiscal Union a Folly (Or how to escape the equally untenable positions of German economists Thomas Straubhaar and Otmar Issing)
, 17/08/2011
The context: In the middle of a mighty bushfire the fire brigade just held a summit between its chief fire fighters (Mrs Merkel and Mr Sarkozy) to discuss the importance of biodiversity, leaving the flames to destroy the forest. Italy and Spain are collapsing. The EFSF, the only institution that was set up to deal […]
On George Soros’ three recommendations: An assessment
, 15/08/2011
George Soros, in his recent FT article, puts forward three proposals toward arresting the euro crisis. One and a half of these are spot on. The remaining (one and a half) range from the ill-thought to the catastrophic. Here is why I think this:
Why the ECB must, for its own sake, issue its own eurobonds
, 13/08/2011
When the Modest Proposal argued, a year ago, in favour of a debt management system, for the eurozone as a whole, with the ECB at its centre, the general response was that it was a good idea containing a major flaw: the suggestion that the ECB issues its own eurobonds (for the purposes of financing […]
ON EUROPE’S RATIONAL IDIOCY: Four illustrations
, 12/08/2011
In a recent post (Why Italy? Why Spain? And why the EFSF’s size does not matter), I concluded with a question that readers keep asking: “If what you are saying is right, why are Europe’s leaders so committed to the current structure of the EFSF?” More generally, the world has been watching Europeans blundering incessantly […]
The Modest Proposal’s Most Controversial Recommendation Foreshadowed in the FT; plus Gordon Brown (former UK PM) and Sigmar Gabriel (SPD Chairman) adopting its main principles
, 10/08/2011
In recent days, the Modest Proposal (click here for the Levy Institute version) has received a fillip from three different sources: The FT’s Lex (who argues that the ECB may well have to issue its own bonds), Sigmar Gabriel (SPD’s Chairman) and Gordon Brown (the UK’s former PM).
The Minotaur in the Room: Announcing the London launch of my new book on the true causes of the ongoing global economic tumult – 1st September 2011
, 09/08/2011
In London on Thursday 1st September at 18.30? Why not join us in the launch of The Global Minotaur at the Bookmarks bookshop , 1 Bloomsbury Street? Aditya Chakrabortty (of The Guardian) will introduce the book. (Click here for a pdf of the invitation) Meanwhile, here is a piece that sums up the reasons why this […]
On the US and EU debt crises: My ten minute Radio Scotland interview
, 08/08/2011
Last Saturday, I was interviewd by Derek Bateman on BBC Radio Scotland. I post that interview here only because Derek put some poignant questions regarding the linkages between the EU and US crises and, more so, the irrationality of the EU’s approach (on which I shall have much more to say in an already promised […]
What the Modest Proposal asks of the ECB: Responses to a reader’s criticisms
, 06/08/2011
Manos Makrakis, a reader of this blog, has expressed strong reservations about the newfangled role that our Modest Proposal assigns to the European Central Bank (see Policy 1). His text appears below in full. Here are, in numbered points, my reply:
Why Italy? Why Spain? And why the EFSF’s size does not matter
, 04/08/2011
Italy and Spain are tumbling because one problematic structure (the European Financial Stability Fund, the EFSF) has been conjured up in order to prop up another problematic structure (the eurozone). The result is that both structures are reaching the end of their tether. Enlarging the newer of the two problematic structures (the EFSF) will not […]
Greece cannot be rescued unless the eurozone is redesigned: Interviewed on ABC LATELINE
, 25/07/2011
Here is the transcript and video of my ABC TVextended intrerview on LATELINE regarding the recent Greek ‘rescue’ plan. Any comments? Transcript ALI MOORE, PRESENTER: Well just a short time ago I spoke to Yanis Varoufakis, an economist at Athens University. Yanis Varoufakis many thanks for talking to Lateline tonight. YANIS VAROUFAKIS, ECONOMIST, ATHENS UNIVERSITY: […]
Europe’s Faustian Bargain: On the latest attempt to resolve the Greek debt crisis and its repercussions
, 22/07/2011
The Agreement reached yesterday by Europe’s political and financial elites is meant to tackle, once and for all, the Greek debt problem. Just as in May 2010 the idea was that intra-eurozone contagion could be prevented by ringfencing Greece (recall the first Greek bailout, the creation of the European Financial Stability Facility, the EFSF, and […]
Missive from the Libyan Sea: Thursday's meeting, if it takes place, will add to the litany of gross failures
, 18/07/2011
Still on holidays, and still under-informed about the goings on (I just manage to read snippets of the news on my mobile phone, whenever a signal miraculously appears on its screen). And yet it seems certain that the Thursday EU summit (of which I got a brief whiff in a few tweets I stimbled upon), […]
Europe's titanic: A quick glimpse from a tiny inflatable off Crete's southern coast
, 15/07/2011
This is, I warn you dear reader, no proper post. Written on a tiny inflatable boat off the southern Cretan coast, where my phone occasionally links up to civilised society, I manage to pick up signals from a predictably distressed Europe. Of these signals, two stuck out, emitted by two ministers of finance: Italy’s and […]
James Galbraith on the European Project's critical moment
, 09/07/2011
James Galbraith kindly sent me the following piece, commissioned by DW, with the premission to reproduce it here. It is both a timely and an astute piece entitled Unless it’s reformed, Europe’s project is doomed. Enjoy:
George Momferratos, on how best to promote the Modest Proposal
, 09/07/2011
Extracts from an intervention, on the Modest Proposal and how best to avoid negative reactions to it (especially here in Greece) from George Momferratos. See also below for my response. What do readers think? Your input will be appreciated.
American Common Sense on Europe: The NYT largely adopting the logic of the Modest Proposal, and even Jeffrey Sachs making sympathetic noises
, 07/07/2011
For some time the rest of the world has been finding it hard to follow the passionate infighting in the US over the federal budget. Only two years after Barrack Obama’s landslide, the United States became, effectively, ungovernable. The current standoff regarding the mystical (to non-Americans) debt ceiling causes a mixture of consternation and incredulity […]
FALSITY MOST FOUL: Why Jean Claude Juncker is precisely, and inexcusably, wrong regarding the Greek crisis and its causes
, 07/07/2011
Jean Claude Juncker has, in the past, taken courageous positions that exuded far-sightedness.[1] However, his latest intervention regarding the Greek debt crisis reveals a serious inability to grasp the euro crisis in its entirety. On 3rd July he told Focus Magazin that "[t]he sovereignty of Greece will be massively limited", referring of course to the [...]How much for your children? Discussing the Greek crisis on the Keiser Report
, 06/07/2011
Interviewed by Max Keiser for the Keiser Report. Click here and go to 14′
Declaration by distinguished former European Leaders in Support of the Modest Proposal’s main tenets: The urgent need for a fresh New Deal for Europe
, 04/07/2011
Europe’s most serious deficit is political. A dearth of political will, democratic legitimacy and purposeful, farsighted leadership is responsible for the Eurozone’s repeated failures to get to grip with the Crisis’ different manifestations. Proposals like that our own Modest Proposal, of Tremonti-Yuncker and others offered Europe obvious alternatives to the current policy mix which exacerbates […]
Radio and TV interviews on the Euro/Greek Crisis and the Modest Proposal. Plus an announcement…
, 03/07/2011
For those interested, a number of links to recent radio and TV interviews on the latest twists and turns of the Greek-euro crisis follow: In conversation with Trevor Chappell, on ABC Radio National (27 June 2011) Interviewed in the As It Happens leading news and current affairs program of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) – […]
The Modest Proposal featured in UBS Client Magazine (Wealth Management Research) and in Basler Zeitung (Swiss Financial Newspaper)
, 30/06/2011
That these are turbulent times I need not remind you of. But when ‘radical’ views (like our Modest Proposal) are (A) endorsed by, on the one hand, demonstrators on the streets of Athens (whom I addressed in past weeks) and (B) promoted by banking colossus UBS in its recent Wearlth Management Research […]
Presenting the case for the Modest Proposal on Irish and Scottish radio, plus a BBC World Service debate with Daniel Gros and a German based colleague (in which a surprising degree of agreement was reached)
, 19/06/2011
Newstalk Dublin, interviewed (extensively) on the Modest Proposal by Karen Coleman, for a program called Wide Angle (Sunday 19th June 2011) [GO TO PART B: From 3′ onwards] http://media.newstalk.ie/listenback/229/sunday/1/popup BBC Radio Scotland, longish interview by Ken McDonald on the Greek Crisis, in which I present the Modest Proposal, without naming it. A pleasant experience, making […]
The penny may be dropping? Five interviews/debates in which yours truly struggles to make a self-evident point (Al Jazeera, BBC, ABC, Bloomberg, Die Zeit)
, 17/06/2011
During the past 24 hours I was involved in a large number of interviews with non-Greek media outlets. For those interested, a collection of links is provided below. The main reason for bothering you with these interviews is that they reveal a gradual Gestalt shift. Whereas a year ago no one in the media took […]