European Crisis
Another emblematic EU non-event: A first reaction to the latest EU 'agreement'
, 27/10/2011
With the din of the debate on what the new EU anti-Crisis ‘agreement’ means in our ears, and after a long night of anxious observation of our leaders’ deliberations, it is terribly easy to lose sight of the only truth about this new twist in the euro crisis saga: There has been no agreement to […]
Fixing Europe's Impossible Algebra
, 24/10/2011
In simple arithmetic terms, European leaders have been struggling to patch up a €4 trillion gap (€1 trillion of potential bank re-capitalisations plus €3 trillion of stressed sovereign debt) by stretching a €250 billion patch (the EFSF’s remaining funds). In algebraic terms, they are bamboozled by the task of solving a system of two equations […]
Long radio interview on all aspects of the euro/Greek/global crisis: KVRX 91.7fm, Austin, Texas
, 23/10/2011
Click here to download the mp3.
Europe needs a circuit breaker: Interviewed by ABC TV's The 7.30 Report
, 21/10/2011
Click here for the ABC’s site, where you can find the video or just read the ABC’s own transcript below:
The Snowflake That Started an Avalanche: Three recent interviews
, 20/10/2011
With the eyes of a stunned world trained, yet again on Greece, the international media have returned to Athens. I keep suggesting to them that they are wasting their time. That the real game is happening elsewhere – in the corridors of the French and German banks, in the meetings between German officials and the […]
Soros tries to snatch hope from the jaws of despair
, 17/10/2011
George Soros has been saying much that is right about Europe for at least the past year. (I have had the opportunity to comment on his musing, mostly approvingly, on a number of different occasions – see for example here and here). His latest piece in the FT (A route-map through the eurozone minefield) is […]
A grim assessment of Europe's Social Democratic Parties: video
, 14/10/2011
Interview (Part 4) that I gave a few weeks ago to the Scottish branch of Unite – the union. A big thank you to Peter Welsh and Andrew Brady. Below I copy their description of this interview: “Unite Scotland’s fourth and final instalment in the Varoufakis series puts focus on the failings of social democratic […]
The Wicked Game
, 11/10/2011
How Greece is being beaten into a pulp to force Europe’s banks to accept capital while keeping Italy et al in awe.
It's a banking crisis…
, 11/10/2011
Video courtesy of Koen Aarts. Taped just after my University of Groningen presentation on 6th October 2011/
A Plan for Europe: Decent_Europe_
, 10/10/2011
This afternoon (Athens time) I shall be appearing at the TEDx Academy (Athens) to deliver my fifteen minutes worth of ideas about how to transform Europe. Here is what I plan to say:
The Modest Proposal travels to the Netherlands: Groningen on Thursday 6th October and Amsterdam on Friday 7th October
, 05/10/2011
If you happen to be in the Netherlands today and tomorrow (Thu 6/10 and Fri 7/10) and wish to participate in a debate on the Modest Proposal, this is your chance. Come along. The adjacent poster concerns the Groningen event. Click here for an interesting introduction to this event. For the Amsterdam debate-presentation that follows […]
Europe’s Greek Moment: My interview with TrumanFactor – in English and in Spanish
, 02/10/2011
TrumanFactor interviewed me on Greece, Europe and the Modest Proposal. Click here for the english version and here for the spanish translation.
How it all started in Greece and how it will spread to France; unless Europe changes course
, 01/10/2011
Interviewed in the London office of UNITE (the trades union):
Revised program for the Copenhagen debate on the Modest Proposal: Friday 30th September
, 28/09/2011
The Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS) has the pleasure of inviting you to a seminar on: To Bond or Not to Bond? Could Eurobonds Save the Euro from its Debt Crisis? Friday, 30 September 2011 09.00-12.00 Danish Institute for International Studies, Main Auditorium, Strandgade 71, ground floor, 1401 Copenhagen K
Two interviews: The gruesome Greek sideshow continues while the main game is played out off camera
, 28/09/2011
Once more, Athens is replete with TV crews from all over the world, eager to relate the latest in the long running saga of whether/when/how Greece will default. Meanwhile, the real game is being played out elsewhere, in the corridors of power in Frankfurt, Brussels, Berlin, Washington where no serious person bothers to discuss Greece […]
Arresting the Freefall rather than a Blueprint for the ‘Good Europe’: The Modest Proposal defended against C. Flower’s powerful critique
, 25/09/2011
C. Flower paid me the complement of penning a critique, entitled New Bottle , Old Keynesian Wine, of my Shellbourne Hotel talk (14th September 2011) as well as of the essence of our Modest Proposal. I reproduce this critique here in its entirety, followed by my reply. Before anything else is said, let me thank C. […]
Need a reminder of our era's political deficit? Here is a glimpse (dating to 1936)
, 24/09/2011
While we are lamenting our leaders’ lack of political will, nous and courage, it is both helpful and a little sad to compare and contrast the politicians in charge during this Crisis of ours with the generation of political leaders whose spirit was steeled during the previous Crisis, that of 1929. With no further ado, […]
A Crisis of Capitalism: Guest post by Riccardo Bellofiore
, 23/09/2011
Last Wednesday, The Guardian published a piece by friend and colleague Riccardo Bellofiore entitled A Crisis of Capitalism. Here I paste an extended version of that piece, which also mentions our Modest Proposal. Enjoy!
Understanding the Euro Crisis: A talk at the Shellbourne Hotel, Dublin
, 23/09/2011
The good people at www.politico.ie took the trouble of transcribing my unscripted talk the other day on Understandind the Euro Crisis, presented at the Shellbourne Hotel, Dublin. You can read it by visiting their site here and you can in fact hear me deliver the talk by clicking here. I also paste the text of […]
The Global Minotaur versus the Age of Greed: A debate on the ABC Radio National's Late Night Live, chaired by Philip Adams
, 19/09/2011
Since the late 80s one of my daily pleasures has been to listen to Late Night Live, the ABC Radio National's daily program in which Philip Adams, the renowned Australian film maker, author and public intellectual reviews the current political, social and cultural climate, talks to authors about a great variety of interesting books (that [...]To use it it would have to be prepared to lose it: Why Germany is not using its power to fix the euro
, 19/09/2011
Last week, on the Jeff Randall show (Sky News), we discussed the looming Greek default but, more importantly, the question of why is Germany dithering. Toward the end of the interview I tried to make the point that Europe’s tratedy is that those with the power to redesign, and in so doing fix, the eurosystem […]
Geithner Shunned: What the US Treasury Secretary said to the Europeans and how they shunned him at our collective peril
, 19/09/2011
Back in the era of unquestioned US hegemony, many Europeans (and I include myself) dreamed of the moment when our leaders would find it in their hearts publically to repudiate the heavy handed advice of a high ranking visiting American dignitary. This weekend, the dream came true. Only it turned out a terrible nightmare.