DiEM25
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.
CAUTERISE AND PRINT: GERMANY'S NEWEST PLAN A
, 14/02/2012
While Greece burnt, and the Parliament of the Hellenic Republic was insincerely accepting impossible conditions for implementing yet another unworkable fiscal adjustment plan, the buzz in Frankfurt’s financial district was an exciting, fresh German Plan A.[1] For the first time in two years, since the euro Crisis began, Germany’s captains of finance could be seen […]
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.
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]
Europe's austerian state of play, animated
, 04/02/2012
Written and produced by Irish economist David McWilliams, who deserves a round of applause.
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
Complexity Fetishism, the Euro Crisis and a worthy challenge for 2012: Part B
, 20/01/2012
Part B: The lure of naive models in the era of financialisation (*) [(*) For the rationale of this four-part series of posts, as well as for Part A of the series, click here.] Preface: Part A of this four-part series of posts began by focusing on the problematic application of the analytic-synthetic method to socio-economic […]
Paradigm Lost: Rethinking Economics and Politics
, 19/01/2012
On 12th to 15th April, a conference will be organised by INET on this theme [Axica Conference Center, Berlin]. For the full program, see here. In its context, on the 13th, I shall be participating in the following session. As I am figuring out the content of my intervention, I would welcome your suggestions. Thanks […]
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 […]
On the true causes behind France’s downgrade
, 14/01/2012
“[T]he financial problems facing the eurozone are as much a consequence of rising external imbalances and divergences in competitiveness between the eurozone’s core and the so-called “periphery.” As such, we believe that a reform process based on a pillar of fiscal austerity alone risks becoming self-defeating, as domestic demand falls in line with consumers’ rising concerns […]
A brief note on Tobin’s Tax and Merkozy’s naked cynicism
, 12/01/2012
Tobin’s financial transactions’ tax was a simple, down-to-earth, logical proposal for dealing with the ridiculous volatility that became the norm in the era of the Global Minotaur (my metaphor for the way in which the combination of US trade deficits and capital flows into Wall Street kept the global economy going between the early 1970s […]
Greece’s PSI is Dead on Arrival: An error in search of a rationale but also a failure that may prove a harbinger for the Modest Proposal
, 11/01/2012
A brief history of Greece’s PSI In the beginning there was Wholesale Denial.
Complexity Fetishism, the Euro Crisis and a worthy challenge for 2012: Part A
, 08/01/2012
Preface: Before 2012 once again embroils us fully into the ongoing saga of the eurozone’s Crisis and its global ramifications, I thought it might be a good idea to start the year on a reflective mood. The topic I chose is complexity and the inadequate responses to it that have landed us in a mire of […]
Ending 2011 with a fable for our times
, 23/12/2011
As 2011 is drawing to a close, with the ECB only having managed to paper over the deepening cracks of the eurozone, it is time to allow ourselves to abandon the barricades for ten days or so. If the soldiers in the Great War’s killing fields could maintain a humane ceasefire, tend to the wounded, […]
The race to lend Greece: A short story by Klaus Kastner
, 18/12/2011
In this remarkable short story, Klaus Kastner (Kleingut) offers a fictionalised account of how Europe’s banks channelled billions to their Greek counter parties. It makes for excellent cross reading with my recent take on the Ant and the Grasshopper fable. [Click here for Klaus’ original post.)
NEVER BAILED OUT: Europe's ants and grasshoppers revisited
, 15/12/2011
A new take on Aesop’s tale, tailor-made for our ‘European Moment in History’, at a time when Europe’s collapse is being guaranteed by the dominance of the wrong narrative. What follows is an attempt at an alternative take; one that is more in tune with a decent future for Europe.