Greek Crisis
Greece is about to give European democracy a chance
, 30/12/2014
Something is amiss in our Europe. When the constitutional process of a proud European democracy seemed to be leading, quite properly, to elections (as was the case in Greece since the Fall), the European Commission, various governments and the commentariat-at-large intervened, presenting the prospect of elections (the crowning moment of the democratic process) as a […]
Interviewed by Thomas Fazi for ONEURO: Greece, the EUROZONE and the prospects of a SYRIZA government
, 15/12/2014
Thomas Fazi has just interviewed me for ONEURO on Greece and the Eurozone two months before a possible Greek election. To read the interview as published in Italian click here. For the Q&A in its English original…
La Grecia tradita dall’Europa: farà default – interview with F. Simonelli, for MediTelegraph
, 12/12/2014
Atene – Yanis Varoufakis, stimato economista dell’Università di Atene, ha sempre avuto opinioni fuori dal coro. Sin dall’inizio della crisi greca, nel 2010-2011, ha messo in guardia sul fatto che non si trattasse di un problema locale, ma di una crisi sistemica dell’eurozona FEDERICO SIMONELLI – DICEMBRE 12, 2014
Ten questions on Greece & SYRIZA, with ten answers – Q&A with Jorge N. Rodrigues
, 11/12/2014
(For the Portuguese language version of this interview, click here. Otherwise read on…)
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard on Greece and the rise of SYRIZA – from THE TELEGRAPH
, 11/12/2014
In this powerful, balanced article, published today in conservative UK daily THE TELEGRAPH, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard makes important points on Greece and a prospective SYRIZA administration: Events have rudely exposed the illusion that the Greek people will submit quietly to a decade of colonial treatment and debt servitude… Greece was sacrificed to buy time for the alliance, […]
Burst Greek Bubbles, Spooked Fund Managers: A cause for restrained celebration
, 07/12/2014
The international press is replete with reports of how London-based fund managers were spooked when they heard of SYRIZA’s views on the nature of Greece’s conundrum and on the party’s intention to work towards a debt restructure and a re-orientation of social and economic policies toward social cohesion and economic growth. Here is my reply…
A Program for Greece? A response to Christian Odendahl
, 03/12/2014
As a general election is looming larger on the Greek horizon, commentary on a prospective SYRIZA administration is becoming more frequent. In this piece Christian Odendahl proposes ‘A Program for Greece’. The ‘Program’ is sympathetic to the view that Greece was manhandled by a bailout loan that gave it little chance of recovery and makes several […]
Taking stock of the Euro Crisis: Interviewed by Doug Henwood for BEHIND THE NEWS
, 24/11/2014
Discussing the state of play in Europe, circa November 2014, with Doug Henwood on KPFA’s Behind the News
Klaus Kastner replies – On the Versailles Treaty parallels
, 19/11/2014
Continuing the discussion we began on modern parallels to the Versailles Treaty (the Greek Bailout, as I claimed here, or Maastricht, as Klaus Kastner juxtaposed here – see also my rejoinder here), Klaus Kastner takes stock with this, latest, missive.
Was Maastricht another Versailles for the German nation? A reply to Klaus Kastner
, 16/11/2014
Klaus Kastner suggests that Germans cannot sympathise with my analogy of the Greek Bailout as a new Versailles Treaty because many, in Germany, feel that Maastricht was another Versailles Treaty imposed, by France, upon them. While there is no doubt that France tried, and failed, to adopt a predatory attitude toward Germany (and toward the […]
Klaus Kastner responds to the Geithner revelations, and my Versailles Treaty allegory
, 14/11/2014
Klaus Kastner, a regular interlocutor of this blog, has responded to the Geithner revelations (and my take on them) on how Northern European finance ministers were bent on ‘crushing the Greeks’, back in February 2010, with the following:
CRUSH THE GREEKS! The Greek bailout revisited in the light of the Geithner revelations
, 13/11/2014
Tim Geithner is now on the public record,[1] confirming that which we have always known: In February 2010, clueless as to the Euro Crisis that was about to engulf them, Northern European leaders decided to crush Greece. Collectively to punish (against even the Geneva Convention) a nation for having gone bankrupt within a Eurozone whose […]
Greece’s Finance Minister: The revolving doors’ syndrome on steroids
, 20/10/2014
Now that the bubble of the Greek success story has, thankfully, burst, it is perhaps apt to take a good look at the track record of Greece’s finance minister: the talented Mr Gikas Hardouvelis. Readers that harboured hopes of a Greek turn-around (against this blog’s repeated warnings) ought to brace themselves – the finance minister’s […]
Greek bonds and shares: What does their decline mean for Europe? – Interview with Jorge Nascimento Rodrigues for EXPRESSO
, 17/10/2014
The spectre of Greek contagion seems to be returning to the Eurozone. At least this is the fear that I sense by talking to financial journalists across Europe. In this interview with Jorge Nascimento Rodrigues (for EXPRESSO) I argue that: “The Euro Crisis never went away. What happened was that Mr Draghi’s skillful interventions in the […]
Has the Greece Success Story bubble burst? Interview with Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten
, 17/10/2014
In this interview, with Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachtrichten (German Business News), I address the question of what happened in recent days in the Greek bond markets, in view of the Greek government’s failed attempt to argue that Greece is about to exit its Bailout. Regular readers may notice that I am merely repeating what I was saying […]
Can Greece stand on its own feet? Interview with ADN Kronos
, 10/10/2014
As elections begin to loom in Greece, an extraordinary propaganda drive has commenced. Its purpose? To impress upon the world (with a view to swaying Greek pubic opinion) that Greece is out of the woods; that Greek public debt is (miraculously) sustainable, that the banks are back on track, that investment is beginning to flow […]
James K. Galbraith on The Modest Proposal, Europe and Greece
, 22/06/2014
In this Q&A with a Greek journalist, on the occasion of the launch of the Greek translation of the Modest Proposal, James K. Galbraith argues that Italy and Greece can play an important role in changing the terms of the European ‘conversation’, so that rational, minimalist solutions like the Modest Proposal can have a chance […]
A Europe of One Extreme: Interviewed by Thomas Fazi on the European Parliamentary Election outcome
, 29/05/2014
Europe went to the polls last weekend. Here is my take on the election results – in an interview with Thomas Farzi (author of The Battle for Europe: How an Elite Hijacked a Continent – and How We Can Take It Back). – What’s your general take on the results of the European elections?
Another shady Greek banking deal: An exchange with Klaus Kastner on the Pireus-MIG deal
, 21/05/2014
The sordid relationship between the owners of the Bank of Pireus and MIG (a holding company that used to own one of the two failed Cypriot banks, as well as a swathe of Greek companies) is well documented. Recently we witnessed a new chapter in this saga, one that went almost unnoticed and which was quietly […]
Depressed, depressing Europe – video
, 13/05/2014
In conversation with Andrew Brady of USiLive regarding the state of Europe now.
How the Greek Banks Secured an Additional, Hidden €41 billion Bailout from European taxpayers
, 11/05/2014
In 2013 Greek taxpayers borrowed from the rest of Europe’s taxpayers €41 billion to pump into the Greek banks. This is well known. What is not known is that, also in 2013/4, the Greek banks received an additional, well hidden, €41 billion bailout loan from Greek and European citizens. This bailout was never authorised by any Parliament or […]
Invigorated Joblessness and a Government Deficit despite growing arrears: Greece’s Non-Recovery continues
, 10/05/2014
While the international press continues to celebrate Greece’s recovery, the reality on the ground becomes bleaker, less sustainable, and nastier than ever. In this post I shall be conveying the grim news from two fronts: the labour market and the government’s finances.
EUROBANK: Another scandal re-packaged as part of the Greek Success Story
, 04/05/2014
Eurobank is an apt example of Greek ingenuity. Its name is a coup in itself.[1] Beyond semantics, however, and coming to recent developments, Eurobank is a wonderful example of the Greek establishment’s ingenious efforts to defraud Greek and European taxpayers, and then to proclaim a glorious Greek Success Story, weeks before the European Parliament elections. […]
A rejoinder to ELSTAT's & EUROSTAT's defence of the New Greek Statistics
, 30/04/2014
ELSTAT, the official Greek statistical service, has put out a document in response to my post unveiling, what I call, their New Greek Statistics over the calculation of the Greek government’s primary budget outcome for 2013. In addition, Eurostat gave an informal response to various journalists who took the matter to them. Full marks for […]