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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.

Europe’s impending Phantom Limp Syndrome

, 26/02/2012

This being the weekend, and waking up in Adelaide about to be immersed in the performance and visual arts (also known as the Adelaide Festival), permit me a different kind of thought/post for the day; an impressionistic comment on all this talk about severing some of the eurozone’s member-states in order to ‘save’ the eurozone; […]

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 […]

My documentary for Channel 4: The Eurozone, the Ant and the Grasshopper

, 21/02/2012

A Special Report commissioned by Channel 4 (UK), based on an earlier post in this blog entitled Never Bailed Out: Europe’s ants and grasshoppers revisited  See also the piece I wrote for Channel 4’s website. And do not neglect to watch the full interview with Mr Robert Halver, Baader Bank’s Chief economist. It sheds plenty […]

Die Zeit Online on the German edition of my Global Minotaur

, 21/02/2012

On the occasion of the publication of the German edition of my Global Minotaur, Die Zeit Online just published extracts from the book under the title Die große Ratlosigkeit in der Krise. Click here for the article. 

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.

The Global Minotaur – as featured in the New York Times Magazine

, 15/02/2012

Russell Shorto kindly interviewed me for the New York Times Magazine on my Global Minotaur, as part of a long article entitled The Way Greeks Live Now. For the complete article, as it appears on the New York Times website, click here. The piece that concerns my book follows here:

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 […]

Complexity and Crisis: A lecture in Greek

, 14/02/2012

Based on my series entitled Complexity Fetishism (click here for Part A and Part B), on Tuesday 14/2/  I gave a talk (in Greek)  on the more general topic of Complexity and Crisis, in Greek, at the Hub (downtown Athens). The video is now available here. Click here for more.

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  

The Global Minotaur: Interviewed by Naked Capitalism

, 14/02/2012

Phil Pilkington, of nakedcapitalism.com,  were kind enough to interview me on my Global Minotaur. To read it from their website, please click here. The Global Minotaur: An Interview with Yanis Varoufakis Philip Pilkington: In your book The Global Minotaur: America, The True Origins of the Financial Crisis and the Future of the World Economy you lay out […]

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 […]

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 […]

The Global Minotaur now available in Greek

, 06/02/2012

Six months after its launch, The Global Minotaur has now been published in Greek by A.A. Livanis. Click here for the relevant web site. A brief description in Greek follows. For the English, original, version click here. And for the German translation here. «Το βιβλίο αυτό είναι μια από εκείνες τις πολύ σπάνιες εκδόσεις για […]

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, […]

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