Essays
Johnny (Paulson) Got His Gun (and is aiming at some grim, Greek pickings)
, 07/10/2013
“Did anybody ever come back from the dead?”… “Put the guns into our hands and we will use them. Give us the slogans and we will turn them into reality.” Dalton Trumbo, Johnny Got His Gun “We think Piraeus and Alpha, two banks we have a position in, are now very well capitalised and poised to recover… They have […]
What Merkel’s Third Term Means for Europe
, 28/09/2013
(This article was commissioned by The New Left Project – click here for the NLP’s site) A few days before the German federal election, the American commentator Bob Kuttner called upon German Chancellor Angela Merkel to use the election victory that was clearly in the making to change tack regarding the European Periphery. Focusing on […]
No signal: an intimate, personal history of ERT
, 25/09/2013
Regular readers will recall my pieces on the closure of the Greek public broadcaster. A longer and more comprehensive version, in which I took the time and the space to unfold my memories of ERT’s presence in our collective Greek experience, became our third contribution to Witte de With’s Review. For the WdW Review site, click […]
Alexis Tsipras at the Kreisky Forum, Vienna (the complete speech/address to Austrian social democrats)
, 24/09/2013
Last week, Alexis Tsipras (SYRIZA’s chair) gave a talk at the Kreisky Forum, in Vienna. In it he addressed Austrian social democrats, in Bruno Kreisky’s old residence. I post Tsipras’ speech here for two reasons: First, because it sends an interesting message to central European social democrats (Austrian and German in particular). Secondly, because this […]
Hollande and Merkel: Where Left is Right – guest post by Stuart Holland
, 22/09/2013
Rather than the claim of German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble that the rest of Europe needs austerity to be able to compete (The Guardian, July 19th), François Hollande was right to say in an interview with Le Monde (September 3rd) that Europe should stop apologising for the Eurozone crisis and its failure to recover growth and […]
Nazi Murders – and what to do about them (radio interview plus a short article)
, 20/09/2013
When anti-racist rapper Pavlos Physsas was stabbed to death by Nazi thugs in the streets of working class Keratsini, near Athens, Greek society was forced to acknowledge that the serpent’s egg had not only hatched but that it had produced a venomous snake intent on taking a terrible toll. No longer content to bash migrants […]
The Modest Proposal as a Trojan Horse for the dreaded transfer union: Guest post by Hubert Marcks
, 17/09/2013
To all those who can’t help but feeling that an external surplus recycling mechanism as described in the modest proposal would just be an appeasing technical term for the dreaded transfer-union and that it would condemn the deficit countries into eternal servitude, I would like to point to an example within the mother of all […]
Why asymmetrical monetary unions are bound to fail (unless they feature an effective, extra-market surplus recycling mechanism)
, 15/09/2013
Asymmetrical monetary unions, wherever and whenever tried in combination with free trade and deregulated capital movements, ended up in tears and retribution. The Gold Standard, the various pegs between domestic currencies and the US dollar (S.E. Asia, Argentina, Mexico etc.), the ERM (European Exchange Rate Mechanism), the Eurozone that followed the latter’s collapse etc. they […]
Greece an "island of stability"? On CBC radio
, 14/09/2013
I live in hope that, one of these days, I shall be in a position to say something positive and cheerful upon being asked by a journalist after my views on the latest ‘Greek Success & Recovery’ story as put forward by Greece’s Prime Minister. Unhappily, I am not able to do so presently.
Interviewed by ARENA PUBLICA: Estados Unidos ha destruido la economía social
, 06/09/2013
(For the ARENA PUBLICA’s website click here)
Interviewed by Carmen Aristegui, CNN Mexico, on Mexico's financial and energy sector reforms
, 05/09/2013
Click on the photo or here
Klaus Kastner replies (adds) to my Mexico City talk
, 05/09/2013
When in Mexico City last week, I argued in favour of financial sector reforms (see previous post) that impose minimum equity limits on the TBTF banks (or SIFIs) while treating very differently (almost motherly) small, local banks, helping establish a rich ecology of local capital recyclers. Klaus Kastner, who has contributed variously in this blog, […]
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…