Essays
Global Banks as exporters of Permanent Credit Crunches to Peripheral Economies: The case of Mexico
, 05/09/2013
The speech below was delivered on 29th August 2013 at ITAM, Mexico City, in the context on a conference on planned financial sector reforms in Mexico; organised by IMEF (the Mexican Institute of Finance Executives), in collaboration with UNIFIM (a confederation of Mexican owned financial institutions). For an audio of my talk click For the text…
In Mexico City
, 30/08/2013
Just a quick note for regular readers to explain my recent ‘silence’. I am in Mexico City, invited by Adalberto Palma, CEO of UNIFIM (a confederation of Mexican owned financial institutions, and IMEF (the Mexican Institute of Finance Executives), to participate in the current debates on Mexico’s forthcoming financial sector reforms. A major tussle has […]
A salutory warning to those who think Greece is none of their business
, 21/08/2013
The back cover of a portuguese magazine dedicated to politics and critical thinking recently depicted a car mirror in which a Greek flag was clearly visible, complete with the sign: WARNING – OBJECTS IN MIRROR ARE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR. With no further comment from me…
Three brief Greek summer tales
, 13/08/2013
As a child, I was fascinated by my mother’s, and her mother’s, tales from the 1940s, and in particular their stories about life under the Nazi occupation. It is perhaps not a coincidence that children’s books used to be replete with grim tales of murder, dismemberment and assorted horrors.
Klaus Kastner gives up on the Eurozone (and Greece's prospects of recovering within)
, 02/08/2013
Klaus Kastner has been in regular correspondence with me and with readers of this blog. A thoughtful commentator, he has held on to the thought that Greece can be revived within the Eurozone under the current mix of ‘fiscal consolidation’ policies. From the outset, he seems to have appreciated some aspects of our Modest Proposal […]
Athens – Birthplace of our Globalising Wall: Our second contribution to the Witte de With Review
, 01/08/2013
Athens: Birthplace of our globalising wall This is the second article that vitalspace.org and I have contributed to the Witte de With Review (an initiative of Rotterdam-based Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art). Readers of this blog will recognise a theme that is close to our hearts: the globalisation of harsh divisions (for a reminder see here, here and here). The added twist here […]
James Galbraith on Europe, Greece (and Syriza), Germany and America
, 30/07/2013
What follows is the extended, English language, version of James Galbraith’s recent interview with Roger Strassburg published in NachDenkSeiten. Enjoy:
The Germany Europe and the World Need – my article in HANDELSBLATT
, 29/07/2013
A few months ago, I wrote an article under the title ‘Europe Needs an Hegemonic Germany’. Handelsblatt, the respected German daily, has now picked it up and published it on 24th July 2013. (Many thanks are due to Stephen Richter, of The Globalist, for his copy-editing and support. And for posting a version of this […]
Don't mention the war? A reader's objection to Stuart Holland's piece, with a rejoinder
, 27/07/2013
A German reader objected most strongly to Stuart Holland’s reply to Mr Schuable’s Guardian piece and, in particular, to Stuart’s discussion of Gestalt Psychology plus his reference to the awful ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’ slogan. Here I present the reader’s objection in full. With a reply that I scripted.
Guilt, debt and interest rates: A comment on double moral standards
, 27/07/2013
Moralising is not a good foundation for macroeconomic policy, especially at a time of Crisis. Still, moral objections to sound policy recommendations must be taken seriously as they have the potential to prevent their adoption, with terrible consequences for all. Here, I respond to a Portuguese reader’s question regarding double standards in the moral assessment […]
Debt, Guilt and German History: A Reply to Wolfgang Schäuble, by Stuart Holland
, 26/07/2013
On 19th July Mr Wolfgang Schäuble, Germany’s finance minister, published an article in The Guardian entitled We Germans don’t want a German Europe. Two days later I responded by annotating his article while colleague, co-author and friend Stuart Holland wrote the following reply (published in Il Foglio in Italian – click here). As it is a poignant article, I […]
Interested in a new perspective on our troubled world? Witte de With presents WdW Review
, 18/07/2013
Allow me proudly to announce a new collaboration with Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art. Your truly and www.vitalspace.org are, as of now, the ‘Athens Desk’ of the Centre’s new WdW Review. For more…
Taking stock of the Euro Crisis on the Keiser Report (video)
, 12/07/2013
I always enjoy being interviewed by Max Keiser, despite our differences on a number of issues (the merits of the Gold Standard, Bitcoin – gold’s e’reincarnation), I beg to differ from him on his hypothesis that Greece fell to a well thought out conspiracy. There was no such thing. Just a badly designed common currency […]
Taking stock of the Euro Crisis – a prelude to (the forthcoming) Version 4.0 of the Modest Proposal
, 11/07/2013
This blog was initially established to discuss the global crisis of 2008 and, in particular, to promote our Modest Proposal for Resolving the Euro Crisis. As Version 4.0 of the Modest Proposal is being prepared (and will be published early next week), it is perhaps time to take stock of almost four years of Euro […]
Of Public Phones and Besieged Humans – Our first contribution to Witte de With's Review
, 01/07/2013
Witte de With Contemporary Art Centre, of Rotterdam, has just launched its Review, both electronically and in print. As part of this effort, WdW have established desks in Athens, Cairo, Istanbul, Jerusalem and Ramallah – five ‘ancient’ cities. vitalspace.org, founded by Danae Stratou and yours truly, was selected as WdW’s Athens desk. Our first contribution […]
Q&A on Greece, Portugal and Ireland – June 25th 2013
, 25/06/2013
A portuguese newspaper put to me a set of questions on the state of our PIGS. I list them here, together with my answers.
The United States and Europe have nothing to fear from a Syriza government: Our op-ed in the NYT
, 24/06/2013
Today’s New York Times features an op-ed by James Galbraith and myself on the reasons the US and Europe have nothing to fear from a Syriza government in Athens – and a great deal to benefit from. Our own title was “Why a Syriza victory is not against the interests of the United States or […]
The Australian Dollar, China's Bubble, QE Exit and the Eurozone: Guest Post
, 22/06/2013
I just received an interesting letter from a colleague who authorised me to share its essence with you, but without revealing his identity. The views expressed are his own and, though I do not agree with his conclusion, I believe this short letter should be essential reading for all those of us who follow the […]
Olli Rehn: "I love Greece but…"
, 21/06/2013
Olli Rehn said yesterday: “I love Greece but I’m very much looking forward to a eurogroup press conference where Greece is not going to be discussed and a summer where we don’t have any Greek crisis.” Mr Rehn reminded me of my years in Britain, when I would say to friends living in warmer climes: […]
In conversation with Dr Stefan Fuchs, of Deutschland Radio Kultur (dradio.de)
, 17/06/2013
Dr Stefan Fuchs, of Deutschland Radio Kultur, paid me a great compliment a couple of weeks ago when he visited me in Athens and put to me pertinent, hard, questions on the state of the global political economy, on Europe, on economics etc. That interview has just been published on the dradio.de site and is […]
Censorship in Austria – guest post by Professor Kunibert Raffer (University of Vienna)
, 16/06/2013
The tale of my blacklisting from ERT, back in 2011, motivated Professor K. Raffer, of the University of Vienna, to send me a letter outlining his own experience with censorship on matters regarding debt restructuring (recall that my blacklisting occurred because I insisted on discussing the inevitability of a haircut to Greece’s debt). Only in […]
James Galbraith on ERT, the Fight for Greek Democracy and the Euro Crisis
, 15/06/2013
On Wednesday 12th June James Galbraith and I addressed a crowd of 2500 in Thessaloniki. After having visited the ERT’s Thessaloniki headquarters, were we had the honour and privilege of talking to ERT employees and the crowd of people that had gathered in support of public media, we walked over to the Vellidio Expo Centre […]
Why am I defending a public broadcaster (ERT) that banned me, and which I always considered problematic?
, 14/06/2013
Last night I spent a few hours, again, at ERT’s main building in Athens, keeping a finger on the ‘liberated’ organisation’s pulse, being interviewed (for the web tv broadcast that is keeping ERT’s voice alive) in tandem with my friend and colleague James Galbraith, listening to the excellent bands performing in the courtyard, soaking up […]
A night at occupied ERT. A night to remember. A night that friends at the BBC, ABC, CBC ought to note
, 12/06/2013
For those of us who grew up in the Greece of the neo-fascist colonels, nothing can stir up painful memories like a modern act of totalitarianism. When the television screen froze last night, an hour before midnight, as if some sinister power from beyond had pressed a hideous pause button, I was suddenly transported to […]