DiEM25
The Global Minotaur: Book launch at the University of Columbia, today – with Alan Beattie, Justin Fox and Mark Mazower
, 09/11/2011
An event-discussion on my new book will take place today at Columbia University under the title: The Global Minotaur: The Crash of 2008 and the Euro-Zone Crisis in Historical Perspective. The meeting has been organised by Professor Mark Mazower, Director of the Heyman Center at Columbia, who will chair the proceedings. Alongside him, I shall be [...]Discussing the Global-European-cum-Greek-cum-Global Crisis at the Brecht Forum, NY. Tonight at 19.30
, 08/11/2011
Tonight, I shall have the pleasure of being an invitee of Professor Rick Wolff. If you are in Manhattan, please join us. Rick (the author of Capitalism Hits the Fan: The global economic meltdown and what to do about it, Northampton, Mass.: Olive Branch Press, 2010) presents a monthly series at the Brecht Forum (see below for […]
The Modest Proposal in Toronto. Today, Monday 7th November, 16.00
, 07/11/2011
7th November, University of Toronto: Invited to speak on The Euro and the European Crisis by the Munk School of Global Affairs at Toronto University. The advertisement states: “As the eurozone crisis is unfolding, threatening in the process to infect the global economy, the debate currently raging in Europe (on how to tackle the cascading defaults and insolvencies) […]
From a Referendum not called to the reinforcement of a dangerous illusion
, 06/11/2011
After the Referendum Call turned out to be a cheap trick by the Greek PM, Papandreou promised to do a Jeanne D’ Arc (i.e. to sacrifice himself to save the nation) before trying to pull a Hosni Mubarak (i.e. “Allow me to remain in power in order to usher in the next regime”). With all […]
Want to follow the U of Texas Conference on the Euro Crisis and the Modest Proposal?
, 03/11/2011
While awaiting the news from Athens on the shape of the new government, why not tune in to the ‘Crisis in the Eurozone‘ conference. It promises to be interesting and to do what Europe is not particularly good at: To delve into the deeper causes of the Crisis and discuss real, not fictitious, solutions. Click […]
Time to resign Mr Papandreou
, 02/11/2011
Last week, the European Union Council agreed on a set of policies for tackling the euro crisis. It was hoped that the new agreement (hereafter referred to as the October Agreement) would be a decisive step toward resolving a slow burning crisis that threatened to derail the euro, plunge the EU itself into a process [...]The Modest Proposal in Toronto. Today, Monday 7th November, 16.00
, 01/11/2011
7th November, University of Toronto: Invited to speak on The Euro and the European Crisis by the Munk School of Global Affairs at Toronto University. The advertisement states: “As the eurozone crisis is unfolding, threatening in the process to infect the global economy, the debate currently raging in Europe (on how to tackle the cascading defaults and insolvencies) […]
The Modest Proposal in N. America: First stop Austin, Texas
, 01/11/2011
For the next fortnight, posting will be intermittent and a little sparse. This is because I shall be on the road, on a lecture tour that will begin in Austin, move to Toronto and end up in New York. For details, see here. For now, I shall leave Greece safe in the thought that our […]
CDS buyers, feminists and Marx: Odd bedfellows in the era of the euro crisis
, 29/10/2011
“Here is our offer: Accept a 50% haircut on your Greek bonds. If you choose not to consent, and it is your prerogative not to, we shall give the green light to Greece to declare a 100% default.” This was in essence the deal that Mr Dallara accepted in the wee hours of the morning on […]
A leveraged EFSF or an ECB-brokered debt conversion? Europe's recent scheme for resolving the crisis versus our Modest Proposal
, 29/10/2011
In my recent ABC TV interview I suggested that the latest euro agreement (announced on 27th October 2011) was a triumph of Orwellian double-speak. They created discord and they called it agreement. In this post I want to unpick a crucial repercussion of this latest piece of euro-fraud.
Europe's newest Orwellian moment: On ABC TV's Lateline discussing the latest plan to save the euro
, 28/10/2011
The ABC’s Lateline (Australia’s flagship news and current affairs evening tv program) afforded me the opportunity to delve into the details (or lack thereof) of the latest European effort to combat the euro crisis. For the transcript and video (kindly provided by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation)…
Another emblematic EU non-event: A first reaction to the latest EU 'agreement'
, 27/10/2011
With the din of the debate on what the new EU anti-Crisis ‘agreement’ means in our ears, and after a long night of anxious observation of our leaders’ deliberations, it is terribly easy to lose sight of the only truth about this new twist in the euro crisis saga: There has been no agreement to […]
Fixing Europe's Impossible Algebra
, 24/10/2011
In simple arithmetic terms, European leaders have been struggling to patch up a €4 trillion gap (€1 trillion of potential bank re-capitalisations plus €3 trillion of stressed sovereign debt) by stretching a €250 billion patch (the EFSF’s remaining funds). In algebraic terms, they are bamboozled by the task of solving a system of two equations […]
Long radio interview on all aspects of the euro/Greek/global crisis: KVRX 91.7fm, Austin, Texas
, 23/10/2011
Click here to download the mp3.
Europe needs a circuit breaker: Interviewed by ABC TV's The 7.30 Report
, 21/10/2011
Click here for the ABC’s site, where you can find the video or just read the ABC’s own transcript below:
The Snowflake That Started an Avalanche: Three recent interviews
, 20/10/2011
With the eyes of a stunned world trained, yet again on Greece, the international media have returned to Athens. I keep suggesting to them that they are wasting their time. That the real game is happening elsewhere – in the corridors of the French and German banks, in the meetings between German officials and the […]
Soros tries to snatch hope from the jaws of despair
, 17/10/2011
George Soros has been saying much that is right about Europe for at least the past year. (I have had the opportunity to comment on his musing, mostly approvingly, on a number of different occasions – see for example here and here). His latest piece in the FT (A route-map through the eurozone minefield) is […]
A grim assessment of Europe's Social Democratic Parties: video
, 14/10/2011
Interview (Part 4) that I gave a few weeks ago to the Scottish branch of Unite – the union. A big thank you to Peter Welsh and Andrew Brady. Below I copy their description of this interview: “Unite Scotland’s fourth and final instalment in the Varoufakis series puts focus on the failings of social democratic […]
The Wicked Game
, 11/10/2011
How Greece is being beaten into a pulp to force Europe’s banks to accept capital while keeping Italy et al in awe.
It's a banking crisis…
, 11/10/2011
Video courtesy of Koen Aarts. Taped just after my University of Groningen presentation on 6th October 2011/
A Plan for Europe: Decent_Europe_
, 10/10/2011
This afternoon (Athens time) I shall be appearing at the TEDx Academy (Athens) to deliver my fifteen minutes worth of ideas about how to transform Europe. Here is what I plan to say:
The Modest Proposal travels to the Netherlands: Groningen on Thursday 6th October and Amsterdam on Friday 7th October
, 05/10/2011
If you happen to be in the Netherlands today and tomorrow (Thu 6/10 and Fri 7/10) and wish to participate in a debate on the Modest Proposal, this is your chance. Come along. The adjacent poster concerns the Groningen event. Click here for an interesting introduction to this event. For the Amsterdam debate-presentation that follows […]