Essays
Bankruptocracy in the Greek Sector of Bailoutistan: The aftermath of the Reuters Report on Piraeus Bank
, 18/07/2012
You may have read the shocking story by Reuters on the ponzi scheme three (or more) Greek banks concocted in order to seem to raise more capital, without diluting the bankers’ stake in ‘their’ bankrupt banks. I have nothing to add to this excellent report by the folks at Reuters (except perhaps to suggest that […]
Interviewed by Doug Henwood on my new position as Economist-In-Residence at Valve Software
, 11/07/2012
A discussion with Doug Henwood on why I accepted the position of Economist-In-Residence at Valve Software. Jump to 33’40” to hear my take on the company’s anarchosyndicalist management structure and the scope for original economic research it provides. (Please forgive the poor sound quality – courtesy of a low quality skype line). See also this […]
Criticising Germany: Three principles for the fair assessment of proud nations
, 09/07/2012
Generalising is the first step toward racism. Every sentence beginning with “The Germans believe this” or “The Greeks do that” is an initial slide on a slippery slope leading, eventually, to bigotry. As I have argued before (click here for a video version) there is no such thing as the Germans, or the Brits, or the Greeks […]
A(nother) PROPOSAL FOR SAVING THE EURO ZONE: Guest post by Marshall Auerback
, 28/06/2012
This blog was established, initially, for the purposes of proposing solutions to the euro crisis; and in particular to propagate our Modest Proposal for Resolving the Euro Crisis. Two and a half years later, the eurozone is crashing and burning, while European politicians are steadfastly refusing to adopt a systemic solution. Those of us who […]
Open letter to a good friend and colleague (who happened to become Greece’s Finance Minister yesterday…)
, 27/06/2012
Dear Yanni, On the one hand I am writing to congratulate you. And on the other to express my disdain towards those who handed my friend the good ship’s wheel after the vessel has struck the iceberg. Utterly familiar with your effervescent optimism, I know you mean it when you declare confidence in Greece’s capacity […]
And the Good Ship Greece Sails On: ‘Letter’ to an italian colleague
, 24/06/2012
A few weeks ago I was approached by Andrea Adriatico, a theatre director from Bologna’s Teatri Di Vita with an interesting request: Could I write a ‘letter’ to some fictional Italian economics professor, outlining on a colleague-to-colleague basis, the Greek ‘situation’ as it is experienced by a Greek economics professor. That letter would then be read […]
Introducing VALVEconomics – my new blog with research notes on digital economies
, 22/06/2012
AND NOW FOR SOMETHING DIFFERENT…
A technical failure foretold? My interrupted BBC TV interview on the… BBC's bias
, 20/06/2012
You may recall that on Greek election day I issued a missive to the BBC, suggesting that they recover forthwith the journalistic standards which they seemed to have dropped in the run up to the Greek election. That missive, might I add, came from a long standing friend and contributor to the BBC. Indeed, I […]
Ponzi Austerity: Interviewed on the Keiser Report
, 15/06/2012
Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert interviewed me, on the Keiser Report, on my notion of Ponzi Austerity, with particular reference to Spain, Ireland and Greece. Watch the video below and let me know what you think. But before you watch it, allow me to state one disagreement of mine with Max and Stacy’s interpretation. Max […]
GERMANY’S CONSTITUTIONAL CONUNDRUM: Guest post by Marshall Auerback
, 13/06/2012
Hans-Werner Sinn, president of Germany’s Ifo Institute and the director of the Center for Economic Studies at the University of Munich, has taken to the pages of the NY Times to explain why Berlin is balking on a further bailout for Europe. Amongst the points that Sinn makes against German sharing in the debt of the [...]Euro-Australia: An instructive counter-factual
, 12/06/2012
In this counter-factual history I narrate (in ‘real time’) the disintegration that would have befallen the Federation of Australia if, in 1901, its founding fathers had used the Eurozone as a template. (A piece commissioned by www.theconversation.edu.au)
In conversation with Rob Johnson (INET Chairman) on the Global Minotaur, the Slump, US and Europe
, 08/06/2012
A few weeks ago, while in New York, Rob Johnson (Chair of the Institute of New Economic Thinking) invited me to their offices where we recorded a conversation on my The Global Minotaur, the true causes of the Crash of 2008, the reasons why the global economy cannot find its poise after that momentous Crash, […]
Why Europe should fear Fine Gael-like ‘reasonableness’ much, much more than it fears Syriza
, 03/06/2012
The establishment view in Europe is that the problem is too much debt (by profligate countries like Greece) and, therefore, that the solution must involve (a) austerity and (b) structural reforms (which increase the competitiveness of the weaker states). The problem, however, is that the establishment view is profoundly mistaken and, as a result, the […]
Italy’s Own Goal: Guest post by Joseph Halevi
, 03/06/2012
The Eurozone’s idiocy is obvious to all those with eyes and ears. It can be witnessed anywhere we turn these days: from the evolving bank run to the non-debate on eurobonds. Joseph Halevi, friend, co-author and serial guest of this blog, just sent me a missive that offers new insights into our continent’s infinite inanity: […]
There’s a lady who’s sure…
, 28/05/2012
I dedicate this post, belatedly, to Christine Lagarde. For her seriously ridiculous remarks on Greek child poverty not being as worthy of her concern as the poverty of far worse off African children. So, to the Managing Director of the one global organisation which has contributed the most to child poverty in Africa and Latin America, […]
What does bank recapitalisation mean? An exchange with Joseph Halevi
, 27/05/2012
In reaction to my Le Monde piece, Joseph Halevi (my close friend and co-author) send me an email, regarding the meaning of bank re-capitalisation, that started as short exchange which you, dear reader, may find of interest. Any comments?
A Paradox of Risk Aversion is haunting the global economy: Rob Johnson’s poignant warning against both bubbles and austerity
, 26/05/2012
We keep forgetting that every Crisis, like a coin, has two faces. One is the mountain of debt and losses that is crushing states, people and banks. The other is an equally imposing mountain of accumulated savings that are to ‘frightened’ to fund investment, thus remaining idle and frittering away. Keynes famously invoked the Paradox […]
For Europe’s sake Greece must renege on its bailout commitments – my op-ed in Le Monde
, 25/05/2012
Le Monde commissioned me to write an op-ed explaining my view that it is in Europe’s interest that Greece resists the ‘terms and conditions’ of its bailout package while staying within the eurozone. In effect, to explain why there is no contradiction between (a) the Greek people’s determination to stay in the eurozone, and (b) […]
Bloomberg Businessweek on UADPhilEcon – the progressive Athens University PhD Economics Program that is now threatened by the Crisis
, 25/05/2012
A few days ago, Brendan Greeley, of Bloomberg, got in touch with me to discuss UADPhilEcon, the Doctoral Program in Economics that I helped set up at the University of Athens. The following article was the result: Greece’s Brain Drain Has Begun Apparently, Brendan had heard me say, in some interview, that one of the […]
Rob Johnson on the economists' collective guilt
, 23/05/2012
Rob Johnson, President of INET, on the sophisticated (but often unintentional) fraud that passes as scientific economics. (I could not, and would not, have put it differently myself.)
Guest Post: Today Germany is the big loser, not Greece – by Marshall Auerbach
, 20/05/2012
Just before the Crisis erupted, in April 2010, with Greece falling into the troika’s embrace in May 2010, I had written an article (A New Versailles haunts Europe) to argue that Germany was about to commit the error that the winners’ of World War I had committed by imposing upon Germany the Versailles Treaty. It was […]
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 […]
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 […]