FinMin2015
A Speech of Hope for Greece – a Project Syndicate Op-Ed
, 07/06/2015
ATHENS – On September 6, 1946 US Secretary of State James F. Byrnes traveled to Stuttgart to deliver his historic “Speech of Hope.” Byrnes’ address marked America’s post-war change of heart vis-à-vis Germany and gave a fallen nation a chance to imagine recovery, growth, and a return to normalcy. Seven decades later, it is my […]
In conversation with John Nash Jnr on Ideal Money
, 02/06/2015
A conversation I was privileged to have with John Nash in June 2000 is posted below as a small tribute to a great man. (The conversation was motivated by a talk John Nash Jr gave in Athens in 2000 entitled IDEAL MONEY. The text of the conversation below was published in 2001 as a chapter in […]
The truth about Riga
, 24/05/2015
It was the 24th of April. The Eurogroup meeting taking place that day in Latvia was of great importance to Greece. It was the last Eurogroup meeting prior to the deadline (30th April) that we had collectively decided upon (back in the 20th February Eurogroup meeting) for an agreement on the set of reforms that […]
Die Zeit's Q&A on Dr Wolfgang Schäuble
, 20/05/2015
Die Zeit, the German good quality newspaper, asked me three questions on Dr Schäuble. I obliged them with the answers that follow. (Predictably, some news outlets went out of their way to distort them. Such is life these days…)
A Blueprint for Greece’s Recovery within a Consolidating Europe – Brussels Keynote 7th May 2015
, 15/05/2015
On 7th May 2015 I was invited to deliver a lunchtime keynote speech at the European Business Summit 2015 in Brussels. Belgium’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister introduced the talk. Click here for the accompanying powerpoint slides. The text of the talk follows below
EBS Summit: panel on Structural Reform – 05-05-2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYig64m5_1g , 05/05/2015
A New Deal for Greece – a Project Syndicate Op-Ed
, 24/04/2015
For the Project Syndicate page click here. ATHENS – Three months of negotiations between the Greek government and our European and international partners have brought about much convergence on the steps needed to overcome years of economic crisis and to bring about sustained recovery in Greece. But they have not yet produced a deal. Why? […]
In conversation with Joseph Stiglitz on the Eurozone Crisis – at the INET-OECD conference, 9 April 2015
, 11/04/2015
GREEK GVT REFORM AGENDA – sent version
Presenting an agenda for Europe at AMBROSETTI (Lake Como, 14th March 2015)
, 15/03/2015
Dear All, Ministerial duties have impeded my blogging of late. I am now breaking the silence since I have just given a talk that combines my previous work with my current endeavours. Here is the text of the talk I gave this morning at the Ambrosetti Conference on the theme of ‘An Agenda for Europe’. Long time […]
On BBC tv NEWSNIGHT
, 31/01/2015
As a fan of the BBC, I must say I was appalled by the depths of inaccuracy in the reporting underpinning this interview (not to mention the presenter’s considerable rudeness). Still, and despite the cold wind on that balcony, it was fun!
A question of respect (or lack thereof)… – the Greek veto over Russia that never was
, 29/01/2015
On the first day in our ministries, the power of the media to distort hit me again. The world’s press was full of reports on how the SYRIZA government’s first foreign policy ‘move’ was to veto fresh sanctions on Russia. Now, I am not qualified to speak on foreign affairs but, nonetheless, I must share […]
Talking to Phillip Adams, on the ABC’s LNL
, 29/01/2015
On my first day on the ‘job’, as Greece’s Finance Minister, I took a few minutes off to talk to my favourite voice and intellect on the wireless.