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A Modest Proposal for Overcoming the Euro Crisis, Version 3.0 – Policy 3 significantly amended
, 19/05/2012
The Modest Proposal never ceases to evolve. Following the issue of Version 3.0, we have made some significant changes, primarily, on Policy 3 (the Investment-led Recovery, Rebalancing and Cohesion Program). Click here for the latest version. Comments welcome.
Weisbrot and Krugman are Wrong: Greece cannot pull off an Argentina
, 16/05/2012
Mark Weisbrot has been arguing, for some time now, that Greece must try to emulate Argentina; that is, to default on its debts not as a bargaining strategy that yields a New Deal within the Eurozone but, rather, in the context of exiting the Eurozone altogether and going it alone. Recently, Paul Krugman has endorsed […]
The Modest Proposal for Overcoming the Eurozone Crisis, Version 3.0
, 15/05/2012
This blog was established in order to throw useful light on the Eurozone Crisis and, in particular, to present our Modest Proposal for resolving it. The first version was presented in November 2010. Since then we have had a number of updates. Today, I have the pleasure of posting Version 3.0, a thoroughly re-worked variant […]
Debating 'Grexit' on France24 tv
, 15/05/2012
As the media are replete with talk of a Greek exit, and Europe’s leadership has decided to play a ‘game of chicken’ with the Greek voters, France24 organised a debate involving the following. Click here to watch it (and here for the second part). Yanis VAROUFAKIS. Professor of Economics, Athens University – from Seattle; Sony […]
On ABC Radio National, PM program: 'Stupendously idiotic' policies for Greece can't work.
, 14/05/2012
For the audio of the interview click. For the transcript (courtesy of ABC), continue reading…
A one-word explanation on why the eurozone cannot inflate its way out of trouble: Spain!
, 10/05/2012
So, Germany seems to have pushed the inflation-phobia monkey off its back. Its finance minister has condoned real wage rises for German industrial workers and the head of the Bundesbank has acknowledged a readiness to allow German inflation to outpace that of the rest of the eurozone. After fifteen years of violating the Maastricht agreement […]
Europe’s potential gains from a silent alliance between Paris and Athens
, 09/05/2012
Greece and France go back a long, long way. The Greek revolution, that procured our small, and constantly problematic, nation-state, was a spinoff (to all intents and purposes) of the French revolution and the culmination of a Greek Enlightenment that owed everything to the French Enlightenment (and almost nothing to either its German or Scottish […]
On CNN Int and Democracy Now, commenting of the Greek and French elections
, 09/05/2012
On Monday 7th May, a day after the French and Greek elections, I was asked to comment on both these momentous results first by Amy Goodman, of Democracy Now, and a little later that day by Christiane Amanpour, CNN International. Both interviews covered quite a lot of ground and departed from the usual epidermic coverage we […]
On China Radio International (中国国际广播电台), discussing the Greek elections
, 03/05/2012
A radio panel discussion on China Radio International discussing, for a whole hour (!), the (I am afraid) inconsequential Greek Elections that are coming up this Sunday. Click here PANEL: –Zhao Changhui, Senior analyst with the Export-Import Bank of China; –Yanis Varoufakis, Professor of Economic Theory at the University of Athens; –Nicholas Economides, Professor of […]
'Plotting' an economics' rebellion? Featured on Deutsche Welle's mini video documentary on the INET Berlin Conference
, 02/05/2012
During the INET Berlin Conference, April 2012, DW tv spent a day with me, compiling this mini documentary on the INET Conference in general and my involvement in it in particular. You can watch it here: click the video entitled Economists Planning a Revolution. [Those of you who have missed my INET address, and can […]
Interview with China's '21st Century Business Herld'
, 02/05/2012
Just interviewed by Chinese business daily 21st Century Business Herald (21世纪经济报道|). Here is the Q&A, in English of course…
Interviewed by Christiane Amanpour, CNN International: The case for a European New Deal
, 29/04/2012
On Friday 27th April, Christian Amanpour interviewed me on CNN Int on the theme of Europe’s slow suicide by inane austerity. CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO. The transcript of our conversation follows (thanks to CNN for making it available to me):
A litmus test for the theory that Europe, in the end, ‘gets it right on the night’: Will it allow the EFSF to recapitalise banks directly?
, 29/04/2012
A currency union requires a unified banking sector. With one supervisory authority that keeps banks in check (and, hopefully, in awe), re-capitalises them when the need arises and, when this happens, takes a stake in them in exchange for the capital injected into the banks.
A chance for happiness for Europe’s unhappy family (*)
, 27/04/2012
Europe is an unhappy family. And like all unhappy families, its diverse forms of competing miseries, afflicting differently its different members, are the reason it cannot regain its poise. Divorce is looming. Only in Europe’s case, and this is where my analogy with families breaks down, divorce can never be cathartic. It stands no chance […]
Why Won’t Germany Turn? Joseph Halevi’s insightful analysis, circa 1995
, 25/04/2012
The question οn almost everyone’s lips is: “How long before Germany recognises that a new architecture is necessary to keep the Eurozone together?” Implicit in the question is a mistaken premise: that Germany’s view of the Eurozone is wrong, that its stance is predicated upon a mistaken analysis concerning the nature of Europe’s macroeconomy. Recently, […]
‘Die Deutschen drehen immer durch’: Interviewed by Tageszeitung 23rd April 2012
, 25/04/2012
While in Berlin, last week, I gave an extensive interview to Tageszeitung. Click here for the article, as it appeared on their website (you can use Google Translate if you have no German). Alternatively, you can read the pdf version of the print edition (complete with a weird photo…): Tageszeitung YV interview 23rd April 2012
The Modest Proposal in Eurointelligence (abridged version)
, 21/04/2012
Wolfgang Munchau kindly offered to publish a version of our Modest Proposal in Eurointelligence. Click here.
German Mercantilism and the Failure of the Eurozone, Guest Post by Heiner Flassbeck
, 21/04/2012
One of the most poignant analyses of the deeper causes of the Euro Crisis, amongst the many presented in INET’s Berlin Conference, was a paper entitled ‘German Mercantilism and the Failure of the Eurozone’, by Heiner Flassbeck. With the author’s kind permission, I reproduce it here for your benefit. Enjoy. (You can watch Heiner’s presentation […]
THE MODEST PROPOSAL AND THE DEMOCRATIC DEFICIT
, 18/04/2012
In an astute commentary on the INET panel in which I appeared (see here for the text), to talk about Europe’s future, Eves Smith had this to say: “It is worth noting that one of the questions after the various presentations on the Eurozone mess raised the issue of the ‘democratic deficit’. The various speakers […]
The Modest Proposal in Berlin – INET Conference, 13th April 2012
, 16/04/2012
The invitation to address INET’s Berlin Conference, and to deliver a fresh version of the Modest Proposal, gave me the impetus to revisit the latter. The extended summary below (of my INET talk) will soon spawn Version 3.0 of the Modest Proposal. Europe’s strategy for dealing with the Euro Crisis has been to ringfence, at […]
IT’S TIME TO OPEN THE BLACK BOXES: Thursday April 19th, Athens
, 13/04/2012
While ‘stuck’ in INET’s Berlin Conference, and before I get a chance to write here about that experience, I thought I should invite all those who may be in Athens on Thursday 19th April, to the opening of Danae Stratou’s new installation at the Zoumboulakis Gallery, Kolonaki Square, Athens (nb. it will open for a […]
CBS’s 60 Minutes program on An Imperfect Union: Europe’s Debt Crisis. An ‘eyewitness’ assessment
, 09/04/2012
On 8th of April, CBS’s 60 Minutes featured a section on the Euro Crisis in which I appeared. Here is my account, and assessment, of it.
Europe’s April, and how to thwart it
, 08/04/2012
The editor of a Swedish magazine asked me to contribute a short piece that combines elements of my Global Minotaur with the address I am about to deliver at the INET conference in Berlin this coming week on the Future of Europe. Here is the piece I concocted. Its title is borrowed from T.S. Elliot’s […]