Greek Crisis
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.
What was it all for? The latest Greek Bailout-PSI in the Morning After’s cold light
, 12/03/2012
So, Greece defaulted. In the beginning, May 2010 to be precise, Europe and the IMF put up the largest loan in history supposedly to avert any kind of debt restructuring. Then, when by the summer of 2011 it had become clear that debt restructuring was unavoidable, Europe embarked on ten months of navel gazing and […]
When I say it it is dismissed as another Greek begging. When Der Spiegel says it…
, 06/03/2012
Stop the Second Bailout Package! EU Should Admit Greece is Bankrupt A Commentary by Christian Rickens Der Spiegel just published this apt and honest piece. I reproduce it below with thanks to the German magazine:
Interviewed by Doug Henwood, on Behind the News (KPFA 94.1FM)
, 05/03/2012
Click here and jump to 29th minute.
Interviewed by The Occupied Times ~ of London
, 03/03/2012
The Occupied Times ~ of London honoured me with a request for an interview. It has just been published here. The text of the interview is also copied below. Please support them any which way you can. Money Talk$: Yanis Varoufakis In the wake of the brutal austerity package – cutting 3.3 billion euros of […]
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.
Winston Churchill on Greece's Bailout Mark 2 (almost)
, 24/02/2012
In my previous post I described Europe’s latest Agreement on how to deal with the Greek debt problem, and the looming Euro Crisis, as a form of Crisis Appeasement. A New Munich that will haunt us Europeans for a long while. Today I cannot resist the temptation to couch my views on Greece’s Bailout Mk2 […]
Crisis Appeasement: The new Greek Bailout as a ‘Euro in Our Time’ moment
, 22/02/2012
According to the official narrative, the euro was saved (again) by preventing a ‘disorderly’ Greek default and against the background of Mario Draghi’s Central Bank ‘activism’. So much for the official narrative. For in my estimation, the sight of our leaders proclaiming such victory against the Crisis has a strong whiff of the moment Neville […]
Greek default does NOT equal Greek exit
, 18/02/2012
Perhaps the greatest enemy of the eurozone, at this particular juncture, is an erroneous assumption: that a Greek default is inextricably linked to a Greek exit from the eurozone. The problem with this assumption is twofold: First, it prevents Europe from escaping a trap of its own making. Secondly, it is false.
On Bloomberg, arguing that the Greece's Bailout Mk2 is unsustainable
, 14/02/2012
Feb. 13 (Bloomberg) — Yanis Varoufakis, a professor at the University of Athens, and Miranda Xafa, president of EF Consulting, talk about the outlook for Greece after lawmakers approved the austerity package demanded to secure a financial lifeline. They speak with Owen Thomas on Bloomberg Television’s “Countdown.” (Source: Bloomberg) CLICK HERE
Greece and the Rape by the Rentiers, by Marshall Auerback(*)
, 11/02/2012
A must-read piece for readers of this blog and beyond. My only caveat concerns the last sentence: Defaulting within the eurozone is the optimal strategy, as it allows Europe one last chance to rejig the euro. Most likely, Europe will not take this chance and then the euro will disintegrate anyway. Greece has no reason […]
Plaster on a festering wound; on RT talking about the new Greek Bailout
, 11/02/2012
Click here for the video.
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.
Greece should default within the eurozone: On CNBC
, 08/02/2012
While Greece’s political leadership was continuing with its game of charades (Will they sign? Will they not?), the country is being led down the garden path, once again. The debt-deflationary downward spiral will be given another impetus. Here I tell CNBC that Sisyphus’ optimal strategy is to stop pushing the rock up the hill. And […]
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]
Reporting the Eurozone’s Crisis: Lessons from the Greek Front (*)
, 04/02/2012
Over the past two years, the economic crisis that has engulfed Greece has also thrust me in front of the microphones and note pads of the myriad journalists who descended upon Athens to report on the unfolding drama. In this sense, I have not only been witnessing the evolution of Greece’s (and the eurozone’s) meltdown […]
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, […]
On BBC World tv, explaining why the PSI deal (if/when it happens) will be an agreement bereft of a sustainable future
, 23/01/2012
Click here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16679370
Two interviews on the futile PSI negotiations
, 19/01/2012
For the second interview click here: Europe as the world’s laughing stock
Why, for Greece’s and Europe’s sake, the PSI ought to fail
, 17/01/2012
Headlines the world over ‘agonise’, on behalf of Greece and Europe, on whether the PSI+ negotiations will come to a conclusion. The presumption is that, if they succeed, Greece will be reprieved and Europe (with France and the EFSF having recently been downgraded) will buy some much needed extra time to put, at long last, […]
On Sky TV discussing the PSI+ negotiations, interviewed by Jeff Randall
, 17/01/2012
PSI talks to resume in Athens over the haircut imposed on banks by the EU in October 2011. Back then, Mrs Merkel and MR Sarkozy forced the hand of the IIF’s head, Mr Dallara, to accept the notion of a ‘voluntary’ 50% haircut on the face value of Greek government bonds (except those not owned […]