Missives from Syntagma Square
The Reform & Fiscal Policy Proposals of my ministry a year to this day – compare & contrast
, 11/05/2016
A year to this day (11th May 2015), my team of international advisers (*) and I submitted this proposal for reforming the Greek economy, including a particular proposal for a debt reschedule. It is interesting to compare and to contrast it with the agreement that the troika is about to impose on the Athens government. […]
Minister No More!
, 06/07/2015
The referendum of 5th July will stay in history as a unique moment when a small European nation rose up against debt-bondage.
Our NO is a majestic, big YES to a democratic, rational Europe!
, 06/07/2015
On the 25th of January, dignity was restored to the people of Greece. In the five months that intervened since then, we became the first government that dared raise its voice, speaking on behalf of the people, saying NO to the damaging irrationality of our extend-and-pretend ‘Bailout Program’. We
GREECE: Still raging against the dying of the light
, 05/07/2015
In 1967 foreign powers, in cahoots with local stooges, used the tanks to overthrow Greek democracy. In 2015 foreign powers, in cahoots with local stooges, used the banks to overthrow the Greek government. In 1967 democracy’s defenders were in disarray and the prisons, the death squads, and the torturers were working overtime. In 2015 none […]
'We've made hope return to Europe' – in conversation with Paul Mason on Ch4
, 04/07/2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmqnYHmRg48IMF backs (ever so peculiarly) the SYRIZA government’s debt assessment
, 03/07/2015
Debt relief ought to be at the centre of negotiations over a New Deal for Greece. That has been our government’s mantra from 26th of January, our first day on the job. Exactly five months later, on 26th of June, the IMF has conceded the point (as evidenced earlier today by the NYT) – on […]
US Senator Bernie Sanders Blasts Greece’s Creditors
, 02/07/2015
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) attacked the International Monetary Fund and European authorities on Wednesday for imposing what he called excessive austerity measures on Greece in negotiations over the country’s debt payments. [Click here for the Huffington Post site, or read on]
Why we recommend a NO in the referendum – in 6 short bullet points
, 01/07/2015
Negotiations have stalled because Greece’s creditors (a) refused to reduce our un-payable public debt and (b) insisted that it should be repaid ‘parametrically’ by the weakest members of our society, their children and their grandchildren The IMF, the United States’ government, many other governments around the globe, and most independent economists believe — along with […]
As it happened – Yanis Varoufakis’ intervention during the 27th June 2015 Eurogroup Meeting
, 28/06/2015
The Eurogroup Meeting of 27th June 2015 will not go down as a proud moment in Europe’s history. Ministers turned down the Greek government’s request that the Greek people should be granted a single week during which to deliver a Yes or No answer to the institutions’ proposals – proposals crucial for Greece’s future in the Eurozone. The very […]
Greece, Germany and the Eurozone – Keynote at the Hans-Böckler-Stiftung, Berlin 8th June 2015
, 09/06/2015
CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO Thank you for inviting me. Thank you for being here. Thank you for the warm welcome. Above all thank you for the opportunity to build bridges, to pave common ground, to bring harmony in the face of blatant attempts to sow the seeds of discord between peoples whose historic duty […]
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 […]
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 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 […]