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The IMF’s Anger – and what it means for the Eurozone’s crashing Periphery
, 06/06/2013
The IMF’s recent report on Greece constitutes the culmination of the Fund’s Mea Culpa regarding its complicity in a series of toxic bailouts that have contributed to the unfolding Kossovisation of the Eurozone’s Periphery. Back in March 2012 this blog reported on a preemptive strike by the IMF the purpose of which was to cover-up […]
In Perpetual Denial: Papandreou on TVO, interviewed by Steve Paikin (and responding to Varoufakis and Vaxevanis)
, 05/06/2013
George Papandreou, the former Greek PM, had a splendid chance a couple of days ago to come clean on the two fundamental errors that cost him his legacy and pushed Greece down a hideous rabbit hole: (a) Failing to acknowledge that the Greek state and banking sector was bankrupt, making preemptive haircuts essential (instead, his […]
Mixed messages from the IMF: Interview with Tom Hirst
, 03/06/2013
An interview follows with Tom Hirst, the shining light behind the new economics and finance website Pieria (well with visiting for the diversity of views it offers). To read the interview, which focuses on the IMF’s attitude toward Britain on the one hand and the Eurozone on the other, click here for the Pieria site […]
EUROPE AFTER THE CRISIS: Combining the feasible, the desirable and the essential (Lecture in Greek, Athens 4th June)
, 31/05/2013
Το «Τhe Hub Events» και ο Νικόλας Πρωτονοτάριος οργάνωσαν την Τρίτη 4 Ιουνίου 2013, στις 20:00 την τελευταία για φέτος συνάντηση του Hub Science, στο πλαίσιο του οποίου πραγματοποιήθηκε η διάλεξη του καθηγητή οικονομικής θεωρίας και συγγραφέα Γιάνη Βαρουφάκη με θέμα «Η Ευρώπη μετά την κρίση: Μεταξύ του εφικτού, του επιθυμητού και του απαραίτητου». Πατήστε εδώ για […]
Defining Austerity
, 31/05/2013
The most stupefying defence of austerity is that it is not being practised. And if it is not being practised, how can one claim that it failed? Austerians point to high deficits in Britain, in Spain etc. as evidence that, indeed, austerity was in the eye of the beholder rather than practised policy. I can […]
Austerity, the Gold Standard and the Eurozone: Today's Guardian Editorial
, 30/05/2013
Some time ago, I wrote a post with which I compared the predicament of the Eurozone’s Periphery with that of Britain under the mid-war Gold Standard. The title was Europe’s Periphery: A postmodern version of Britain in the 1930s? Yesterday, I used a pointed metaphor by which to dispel the nonsense that Europe is loosening up […]
Is Europe loosening up austerity’s iron clasp?
, 29/05/2013
Suppose that I were to demand of you that, by the end of August, you should be able to run the 100m sprint in less than 10’’. Suppose further that, to give you a firm incentive to lift your ‘game’, I whip you continually. Alas, August is approaching and your performance in fact declines, as […]
“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 […]
Greek Success Story: The latest Orwellian Turn of the Greek Crisis
, 22/05/2013
Greece’s Prime Minister recently flew to China, to woo Chinese investors. In his bid to be persuasive, he adopted a radical narrative: Greece is a Success Story. A country that almost perished in 2012 is now on the mend; on the road to stabilisation and growth; a wonderful opportunity, currently, for investors to pick up […]
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 […]
Confessions of an Erratic Marxist: Keynote speech, Subversive Festival, Zagreb, Croatia – 14th May 2013
, 14/05/2013
To listen (as audio only) to my keynote speech at the 6th Subversive Festival (Kino Europa, Zagreb), 14th May 2013, click CONFESSIONS OF AN ERRATIC MARXIST. For the complete program click here. For the abstract as well as full text of my talk…
Raising Awareness in 60" Video Competition
, 10/05/2013
And now for something quite different: Since our words and arguments are failing to have a serious impact, despite their value and reasonableness, perhaps it is time to resort to the artist’s touch. Vital Space invites all artists to participate in the first of a series of open call competitions in the context of our ‘Raising Awareness’ theme. For our first […]
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 […]
Bitcoin and the dangerous fantasy of ‘apolitical’ money
, 22/04/2013
The Crash of 2008 has infused our societies with enormous scepticism on the role of the authorities, both government and Central Banks. It is quite natural that many dream of a currency that politicians, bankers and central bankers cannot manipulate; a currency of the people by the people for the people. Bitcoin has emerged as […]
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 […]
Farewell Mrs Thatcher: In spite of everything, you are being missed already
, 09/04/2013
For the purposes of full disclosure, I write these words as someone who, back in the late ‘70s and throughout the ‘80s, joined countless picket lines and demonstrations against Mrs Thatcher’s regime, shouting on top of his voice (and to the detriment of his vocal chords): “Maggie, Maggie, Maggie, Out, Out, Out!”. Indeed, when I […]
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 […]