English
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 […]
Cessation of posts till end of July. But here is a message from Southern Crete…
, 12/07/2011
Having spent a day on a deserted Cretan beach overlooking Libya, I returned to Loutro (our haven) to discover messages on my phone suggesting that I chose the worse week to go AWOL: the week when the euro is finally collapsing. Steady on folks! The euro crisis has a long, […]
Giuliano Amato and Guy Verhofstadt answer questions from To VIMA on why they signed the Declaration espousing the Modest Proposal's main tenets
, 09/07/2011
Some days ago, I was asked by Greek Sunday newspaper To VIMA to bring them in contact with some of the main signatories of the Declaration in favour of a new New Deal for Europe, a statement of support for the Modest Proposal’s main tenets. Three questions were posed by Pavlos Papadopoulos (To VIMA financial […]
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 [...]Liberty, Justice and Crisis: A competition for readers
, 07/07/2011
Two days ago, my MPhil students, sat their end of First Year final examination in a course entitled Economics as a Social Science (offered in the context of UADPhilEcon). I thought you might be interested to see the ‘cruel’ questions I set for them. Would you care to provide answers? Perhaps we can have a […]
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 […]
When French Folly and German Naiveté unite against Greek debt: Another sorry episode of how not to deal with a systemic crisis
, 28/06/2011
While crises are the laboratory of the future, the euro crisis is proving more like the alchemist’s lair. Back in November, the brilliant idea was touted, with considerable fanfare, of having the EFSF buy (at a discount) Greek and Irish bonds in the secondary market (in order to effect a non-default haircut). Despite the excitement […]
The Penny Is Dropping: Mervyn King, Daniel Gros, Jim O'Neill, and the increasing relevance of the Modest Proposal
, 26/06/2011
This blog has been risking its readers’ sanity by repeating ad nauseam, and in a myriad different guises, the claim that the euro crisis is, at root, a chain of bank insolvencies causally attached to another (derivative) chain of member-state insolvencies. And that, as such, all attempts to deal with the resulting Crisis by rivers […]
Misleading Parliaments: The essence of Greek Bailouts Mk1 & Mk2
, 20/06/2011
Misleading parliament is, in normal times, frowned upon by the political class. Misleading several parliaments at once is, on the other hand, the current state of play in the European Union.
Making amends: Restoring the voice of an Irish activist (which I had, unwittingly, played a part in suppressing)
, 20/06/2011
In my previous post, I mentioned a debate between Daniel Gross, a German based colleague and myself. (You can hear it here – beginning on the 38th minute). Well, in saying that, I was as guilty as the BBC anchor of silencing a fourth voice on that program. That of Kate Bopp, an Irish activist, […]
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 […]
The European conundrum (as I experienced it in a TV debate last night)
, 16/06/2011
Permit me dear reader to say nothing about the farce unfolding in Athens presently, except perhaps to comment that when an economy unravels its political regime follows. Today’s post concerns a TV debate in which I participated yesterday. It was hosted by the French global channel France24 and featured two French economists, myself and a […]
Beyond the Crisis: Markets, planning and a utopian vision (inspired by the American National Football League)
, 15/06/2011
The Crisis, especially in Europe (not to mention Greece), is all consuming. Every day our minds are highjacked by its latest twist. Today, here in Athens, a general strike has temporarily suspended the news’ cycle and given me a few moments to reflect. I thought that today’s post, reflecting this… reflective moment, should transcend that […]
The Greek Crisis and the Threat to Political Liberalism: A cautionary tale for Ireland, Portugal, the whole of Europe
, 12/06/2011
If 1929 has taught us anything, it is that a major (capital ‘c’) Crisis poses a lethal threat to (a) currency unions (e.g. the Gold Standard then, the euro today) and (b) political liberalism. The latter threat has, so far, featured only as a projection (see here for a relevant argument), rather than an observed […]
Crisis Update: Three interviews on the Euro Crisis, the Greek Crisis and the Modest Proposal (Radio, TV and print)
, 12/06/2011
UBS Interview promoting the modest Proposal And the crisis sails on… (Anyone recall Fellini’s masterpiece “And the ship sails on”?). In todays post you can: (A) listen to a half-hour long radio interview on the euro crisis (interviewed by Doug Henwood, for the Behind the News program – it begins on the 27th minute), (B) […]
The New York Times’ article on our Modest Proposal: My reaction
, 09/06/2011
As regulars of this blog know, its initial purpose was to promote a different way of thinking about the global, euro and Greek crisis and, in particular, to present what Stuart Holland and I call the Modest Proposal for Overcoming the Euro Crisis. (See also the plethora of supporting posts here.) Today, the New York […]