Essays
Keynesian Legacies neither Europe nor Keynes deserved: A critique of New and ISLM Keynesians in the context of Europe’s Crisis
, 28/03/2012
In a previous article, entitled On the Political Economy of Eurozone Bailouts – The curious case of Greece’s neoliberals, I took great pleasure in lambasting the internal inconsistency of Europe’s (and in particular Greece’s) neoliberals. In today’s article I cast a critical gaze at the ‘other camp’; that which consists of self declared Keynesians. The article […]
Politics as television by other means: Mrs Merkel telling us that Greece is here-to-stay and the ESM will co-exist with the EFSF
, 26/03/2012
In television, I was once told, you can never lose money by underestimating the intelligence of the audience. Mrs Merkel seems to have drawn heavily from that nugget of wisdom. Her take on it is that, in European politics, you cannot lose votes if you underestimate the electorate. Just keep telling them the same thing […]
The IMF’s preemptive smokescreen for covering up another foretold program failure
, 17/03/2012
Having bent its own rules, and after turning a blind eye to its own experts’ assessment of the sustainability of Greece’s 2nd ‘bailout’, the IMF is now preparing for failure. Ms Lagarde found it hard to convince her board to go along Europe down the path of locking Greece into yet another unsustainable future.
Toward an escape from pseudo-Keynesianism: Obserwator Finansowy
, 14/03/2012
Polish newspaper Obserwator Finansowy just published an article, drawing upon some arguments of mine and of Sanjay Reddy, of the New School, (amongst others) canvassing for an escape from what passes erroneously as Keynesian ideas about the ongoing crisis. Use Google Translate. It works well (in this case).
An interview with Naked Capitalism's Phil Pilkington on the state of economics (and our Modern Political Economics): Part B
, 08/03/2012
Naked Capitalism’s Phil Pilkington interviewed me on the state of economics, as it appears through the pages of Modern Political Economics: Making sense of the post-2008 world (co-authored with Joseph Halevi and Nicholas Theocarakis). For Part A click here. Part B can be read either by going to the Naked Capitalism site or by reading […]
An interview with Naked Capitalism's Phil Pilkington on our book 'Modern Political Economics' – Part A
, 01/03/2012
Naked Capitalism just published a long interview that I gave to Phil Pilkington on the themes of Modern Political Economics: Making sense of the post-2008 world; the book jointly authored by myself, Joseph Halevi and Nicholas Theocarakis. Here is the interview’s first part:
The Globalising Wall in the 2012 Adelaide Festival's RESTLESS exhibition
, 01/03/2012
Some of you have been inquiring as to what I am doing here in Adelaide. Well, all is about to be revealed. Danae Stratou, my partner, is presenting her video installation THE GLOBALISING WALL as part of RESTLESS, an exhibition presented in the context of the 2012 ADELAIDE FESTIVAL – which is opening tonight (18.00 at the […]
On the Political Economy of Eurozone Bailouts – The curious bargain of Greece’s Hayekian neoliberals
, 28/02/2012
Following the Crash of 1929, an epic debate began between liberals who believed in capitalism’s automatic stabilisers and John Maynard Keynes who did not. Today, in Bailoutistan (Greece and the other fallen eurozone countries), this debate has taken an interesting, sad, twist.
Complexity and Crisis: A lecture in Greek
, 14/02/2012
Based on my series entitled Complexity Fetishism (click here for Part A and Part B), on Tuesday 14/2/ I gave a talk (in Greek) on the more general topic of Complexity and Crisis, in Greek, at the Hub (downtown Athens). The video is now available here. Click here for more.
On ABC Radio National's Breakfast program – discussing Greece
, 10/02/2012
This is an interview on ABC Radio National’s Breakfast program. One of the rare occasions when I was afforded sufficient ‘room’ to unfold arguments.
Is Greece still viable? (Is Europe?): my piece in Deutsche Welle.de
, 05/02/2012
[The following piece was commissioned by DW.de. Click here for the article as it appeared on Deutsche Welle’s website.] “Perhaps it is historically true that no order of society ever perishes save by its own hand.” [John Maynard Keynes][1]
Crying over spilt milk: My CNN.com piece on Greek sovereignty and the unholy alliance between German and Greek leaders
, 31/01/2012
[The following story was commissioned by CNN.com. Click here for the complete article.] STORY HIGHLIGHTS German and Greek politicians are at odds over who should control Greece’s budget Greek political economist Yanis Varoufakis says both are guilty of failing to grasp the real problem Varoufakis says both countries mislead voters in agreeing an unsustainable rescue […]
Pointless fury: Why both German and Greek politicians are wrong to be angry
, 30/01/2012
So, some German politicians put on paper that which they have been thinking of a while: Greece has become an unbearable burden and, if they are to resign themselves to continue putting their money in that particular black hole, they might as well have a say in the way it is managed on the ground. Predictably, […]
Canada’s Stark Options: Recovery or Regress?
, 26/01/2012
[Here is the speech I intend to give later today at the CCPA workshop on ‘Canada: How can we avoid a lost decade?’ ] If everything is (as economists seem to believe) relative, then Canada is doing reasonably well in the aftermath of the Crash of 2008. Its governing politicians are, of course, stretching credulity […]
The Global Economic Crisis: Can Canada Escape a Lost Decade?
, 25/01/2012
On Thursday 25th January, I shall be participating in what seems like a fascinating debate in the Canadian House of Commons. Organised by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, we shall be discussing the Crisis’ impact on Canada, the wisdom (or otherwise) of its government’s planned responses and the links between the Canadian, American, European […]
Complexity Fetishism, the Euro Crisis and a worthy challenge for 2012: Part B
, 20/01/2012
Part B: The lure of naive models in the era of financialisation (*) [(*) For the rationale of this four-part series of posts, as well as for Part A of the series, click here.] Preface: Part A of this four-part series of posts began by focusing on the problematic application of the analytic-synthetic method to socio-economic […]
A brief note on Tobin’s Tax and Merkozy’s naked cynicism
, 12/01/2012
Tobin’s financial transactions’ tax was a simple, down-to-earth, logical proposal for dealing with the ridiculous volatility that became the norm in the era of the Global Minotaur (my metaphor for the way in which the combination of US trade deficits and capital flows into Wall Street kept the global economy going between the early 1970s […]
Complexity Fetishism, the Euro Crisis and a worthy challenge for 2012: Part A
, 08/01/2012
Preface: Before 2012 once again embroils us fully into the ongoing saga of the eurozone’s Crisis and its global ramifications, I thought it might be a good idea to start the year on a reflective mood. The topic I chose is complexity and the inadequate responses to it that have landed us in a mire of […]
Ending 2011 with a fable for our times
, 23/12/2011
As 2011 is drawing to a close, with the ECB only having managed to paper over the deepening cracks of the eurozone, it is time to allow ourselves to abandon the barricades for ten days or so. If the soldiers in the Great War’s killing fields could maintain a humane ceasefire, tend to the wounded, […]
No plan for either Europe or Greece: Guest post by Jerry Goldstein
, 13/12/2011
In the interests of fostering dialogue on the issues that matter, I welcome today’s blog entry from long time contributor (and regular critic of my scribblings) Jerry Goldstein. Jerry has a strong background in banking but, and this is highly pertinent, spends most of his time in Athens.
The essence of the New Eurozone, as envisaged by the latest Treaty Change. Guest post by Joseph Halevi
, 09/12/2011
My good friend, co-author and interlocutor extraordinaire, Joseph Halevi, spends half the year in a small town on the shores of an Italian lake. Upon hearing of the latest Treaty changes to which the euro 17 nations agreed today, he sent me the following message. I can think of no better or more analytically astute […]
Two eurocrisis guest posts: Diagnosis (by Jan Toporowski) and cure (by Stuart Holland)
, 06/12/2011
While preparing for my tak at the LSE, organised by the Hellenic Observatory, I thought you may be interested in two guest posts. One is by Jan Toporowski (on the deeper causes of the eurozone crisis) and another by Stuart Holland (in which the author draws the parallel between the essence of our Modest Proposal […]
A fresh proposal for escaping the euro crisis. Guest post by Alain Parguez
, 25/11/2011
The following proposal is due to Alain Parguez, Emeritus Professor of Economics, University of Franche-Comté, Besançon-France ( www.neties.com/parguez ). Professor Parguez has been a longstanding critique of European Union affairs. His incisive critique of the eurozone’s architecture predates by many years the current Crisis. Always fascinated by his views , I am grateful for the […]