Essays
EUROBANK: Another scandal re-packaged as part of the Greek Success Story
, 04/05/2014
Eurobank is an apt example of Greek ingenuity. Its name is a coup in itself.[1] Beyond semantics, however, and coming to recent developments, Eurobank is a wonderful example of the Greek establishment’s ingenious efforts to defraud Greek and European taxpayers, and then to proclaim a glorious Greek Success Story, weeks before the European Parliament elections. […]
My endorsement of Alexis Tsipras' Candidacy for the Presidency of the European Commission – video
, 01/05/2014
Over the past year I have argued that Europe needs a jolt.
‘European Progressive Policy Initiative’ endorses the Modest Proposal’s four main policies
, 01/05/2014
A group of noted international economists (including Joseph Stiglitz, Peter Bofinger and Stefanie Griffith-Jones), known as the European Progressive Policy Initiative (EPPI), has issued a policy paper that endorses the main planks of our Modest Proposal for Resolving the Euro Crisis 4.0. EPPI was assembled in 2013 by Europe’s social democratic alliance in the European […]
Europe and Greece in Review: Interviewed by Michael Maier for Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten
, 28/04/2014
Interviewed by Dr. Michael Maier for Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten: For the interview in German, as published on the DWN site, Click here for PART A , on the Ukrainian crisis Click here for PART B, on Greece and the Eurozone For the whole interview in English,…
James Galbraith on Piketty’s Capital in 21st Century – video/interview
, 26/04/2014
See also James Galbraith’s splendid review of T. Piketty’s ‘Capital’ here.
Easter wishes to all
, 20/04/2014
Who said that Easter has no significance in our cynical age, even to atheists like myself? Suffering, the sacrifice of the innocents, persecution of prophets of truth – it is all going on with a vengeance. On this note, Happy Easter to all. (The photo above was taken by Danae Stratou on the US-Mexican border […]
More on the Grand Greek De-coupling – Interviewed on RT tv
, 16/04/2014
Interviewed on RT’s Boom-Bust show on themes already covered in posts here and here.
Inequality: Should we care? A debate between Y. Brook (Ayn Rand Institute) and J. Galbraith & Y. Varoufakis (UT); 17th April at UT Austin
, 16/04/2014
Witness a dramatic battle of ideas between two internationally known speakers over the question of whether or not we should be concerned about economic inequality.
The Grand Greek Paradox: Bankrupt but embraced by the money markets – On the BBC World Service
, 09/04/2014
(listen to the first story; first 15′) Greece is about to issue 5 year bonds again. Berlin, Brussels, Frankfurt and Athens are celebrating Greece’s recovery. For my part, I think (and tell the BBC World Service) that this is a sad day for Greece and it is a sad day for Europe. Why do I refuse […]
Das Kapital for the Twenty-First Century? A review of T. Piketty’s new book by James K. Galbraith
, 03/04/2014
Thomas Piketty has a new book out: Capital in the Twenty-First Century. It is an ambitious volume that sets out to explain the sources of inequality and social tensions in the context of his own anatomy of… Das Kapital. As this book is receiving a great deal of attention, a proper review is in order. Thankfully, James K. Galbraith […]
Europe’s latest policy on Irish and Greek banking losses: A tale of two swindles too similar for comfort
, 01/04/2014
The Irish and the Greeks are, in many ways, very different people. And yet, caught up in the Euro Crisis, our fortunes have become too close for comfort. Recently, European authorities have devised a creative new method for damaging the people of Ireland and of Greece further. The new method involved imposed changes on the public […]
Reaching For Our Revolvers: How a United Europe defused its culture and divided its people
, 31/03/2014
This is an article that appeared in Brooklyn Rail, a NYC-based art magazine. My brief was to write a piece on the effects of European unification on European culture. Click here for the BR website version. Or…
AUSTERITY – a televised debate (by the Institute of World Affairs) on its logic and discontents featuring J.K. Galbraith, Jeff Sommers and Yanis Varoufakis
, 27/03/2014
James Galbraith, Lloyd M. Bentsen Jr. Chair in Government/Business Relations and Professor of Government, University of Texas – Austin Yanis Varoufakis, Visiting Professor at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, University of Texas – Austin, and Jeffrey Sommers, Senior Fellow, Institute of World Affairs Moderator: Doug Savage, Institute of World Affairs
Think Big, Think Bold
, 25/03/2014
Why the Left in Britain and in the Eurozone must aim for a radical Pan-European Green New Deal The Centre for Labour and Social Studies (CLASS) kindly invited me to draft a possible Manifesto for the European Left, in view of the May 2014 European Parliament election. Here is the final document I produced entitled […]
How do the powerful get the idea that they ‘deserve’ more? Lessons from the… laboratory
, 21/03/2014
The ‘haves’ of the world are always convinced that they deserve their wealth. That their gargantuan income reflects their ingenuity, ‘human capital’, the risks they (or their parents) took, their work ethic, their acumen, their application, their good luck even. The economists (especially members of the so-called Chicago School. e.g. Gary Becker) aid and abet […]
Is this an alien landing site, ancient monument, or something else?
, 15/03/2014
Readers of this blog are familiar with Danae Stratou‘s photographic works (her photos adorn the header above). In this post I copy a story from CNN.COM about Desert Breath: one the largest and (in my eyes) most significant land art projects on the planet’s face. It is the creation of Danae Stratou, Alexandra Stratou and […]
Tony Benn – in memoriam
, 14/03/2014
Tony Benn’s passing saddened and concentrated my mind. His was the voice that resonated with (a much younger version of) me most powerfully immediately after I moved to England in 1978. I was attracted instantly to the combination of: his commitment to the progressive history and potential of British Parliamentarianism, his passionate anti-imperialist pacifism, his relentless […]
On Bitcoin’s potential: Q&A on what Bitcoin can and cannot offer a troubled world
, 13/03/2014
Following my debate with Andreas Antonopoulos on ABC Late Night Live, graduate students of mine (at the University of Texas) were kind enough to piece together a related Q&A reflecting my views on BTC. Read on…
Debating Bitcoin on ABC Late Night Live, with Phillip Adams and Andreas Antonopoulos
, 13/03/2014
In this lively debate, on ABC Radio National’s excellent Late Night Live (with Phillip Adams in the chair), we discuss what makes Bitcoin a fascinating technology, whether it is a genuine currency, its parallels with the Gold Standard and what I have called previously the dangerous fantasy of apolitical money.
Of Masks and Shadows: The curious case of actors arrested on stage in Athens’ theater of the absurd
, 11/03/2014
The curious tale of two actors’s arrest on the stage of a derelict, occupied, Athenian theatre offers a window into life in Athens in the shadow of its wholesale economic collapse. This is our sixth article for the Witte de With Review (an initiative of Rotterdam-based Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art of which we, vitalspace.org and I, are party to, […]
Open Letter to Mr Alex Salmond
, 10/03/2014
Scotland’s First Minister and leader of the Scottish National Party (Click here for a pdf version of this open letter and here for a longer article, on which this letter is based, entitled ‘If Scotland, why not Greece?’) Dear Mr Salmond,
If Scotland, why not Greece?
, 10/03/2014
Why an independent Scotland should get out of sterling, but Greece should not volunteer to exit the Eurozone Scotland should state its intention to decouple from sterling, once independent, rather than petitioning for a continuation of its subservient role in an asymmetrical sterling union. Or so I argued in the Scottish Times in ‘Scotland Must […]
On the Ukraine: Three awkward questions for Western liberals and a comment on the EU’s role
, 09/03/2014
Let us accept (as I do) the principle that national minorities have the right to self-determination within lopsided multi-ethnic states; e.g. Croats and Kosovars seceding from Yugoslavia, Scots from the UK, Georgians from the Soviet Union etc.
James K. Galbraith on Inequality and the Eurozone (audio)
, 05/03/2014
at the Progressive Economic Conference, Brussels 2nd March 2014