Papers
The Greek Plan for Growth & Recovery: Two documents the Ministry of Finance tabled in May and June 2015
, 20/08/2015
Now that Greece’s Third Memorandum of Understanding has passed (see here for my annotated version), after the SYRIZA government surrendered on 12th July 2015, it is perhaps of interest to compare the ‘Reform Agenda’ in that agreement with the agenda the Ministry of Finance had presented to the institutions on two occasions, in May and June […]
Greece’s Third MoU (Memorandum of Understading) annotated by Yanis Varoufakis
, 17/08/2015
The Third Greek MoU is now enshrined in Greek Law. Written in troika-speak it is almost impossible to decypher by those not speaking this unappetising language. Click here for the complete MoU text annotated liberally by yours truly – in pdf form. It is best read in conjunction with my annotated version of the EuroSummit Agreement […]
EU refuses to acknowledge mistakes made in Greek bailout – by Richard Koo
, 27/07/2015
Richard Koo sent me recently his latest, Nomura, assessment on Greece and our negotiations with the EU and the IMF. As always, Richard’s views make for fascinating reading. Here is the pdf copy that he has made available to us.
The Euro-Summit ‘Agreement’ on Greece – annotated by Yanis Varoufakis
, 15/07/2015
The Euro Summit statement (or Terms of Greece’s Surrender – as it will go down in history) follows, annotated by yours truly. The original text is untouched with my notes confined to square brackets (and in red). Read and weep… [For a pdf copy click here.]
IMF 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 […]
Talking to my daughter about the economy – Preface to the German edition
, 23/04/2015
Last summer (an aeon it seems before my recent sojourn into politics&government) I spent ten days writing a short book in Greek on economics. The idea was to write it as if it were addressed to my young daughter, so as to keep complex ideas simple and to test my capacity to home in on […]
In conversation with Joseph Stiglitz on the Eurozone Crisis – at the INET-OECD conference, 9 April 2015
, 11/04/2015
GREEK GVT REFORM AGENDA – sent version
The euro’s first inkling – a piece in lieu of Best Wishes for 2015
, 26/12/2014
As 2015 is approaching, seemingly pregnant with crucial challenges for Europe, the euro and all those who have to live with it, I could not think of a better seasonal offering for readers of this blog than a suitable extract from my next book. I chose a piece that narrates, and interprets, the story of […]
Public Debt: How the classical economists looked upon it (wonkish) – Guest article by Nicholas Theocarakis
, 28/11/2014
With so much talk about public debt, the so-called debt crisis etc., it is perhaps time to take a close look at the history of the concept; of how public debt was born, on the evolution of its nature and, even more poignantly, of the manner in which economists have interpreted and evaluated its purpose […]
Preface to the (forthcoming) French edition of THE GLOBAL MINOTAUR
, 12/11/2014
The Global Minotaur: America, Europe and the future of the world economy is about to be published in French, as Le Minotaure Planétaire, by newly established, progressive publishing house LES ÉDITIONS DU CERCLE. Read on for a draft of the Preface I composed for this French edition (which is now added to the German, Spanish, […]
CAN EUROPE ESCAPE ITS CRISIS WITHOUT TURNING INTO AN IRON CAGE?
, 07/09/2014
ON THE MODEST PROPOSAL’S POLITICAL, CONSTITUTIONAL AND ETHICAL DIMENSIONS [Image: Rembrandt’s ‘The Abduction of Europa’] This article is a sequel to an earlier piece entitled ‘Why is Europe not coming together in response to the Euro Crisis?’ and is best read in conjunction with this article (co-authored with James K. Galbraith) that compares our Modest […]
Austerity comes to Australia – OpEd, WHITE PAPER, ABC Radio National
, 22/08/2014
Austerity was never about tackling public debt. It was not even a political campaign to end the ‘culture of entitlement’. In the UK, in the Eurozone, and now in Australia, austerity is, and always was, a thinly disguised campaign of invoking fiscal prudence and public virtues in order to indulge private vices and so as to redistribute entitlements at the expense of the majority.
Preface to the Finnish edition of the Global Minotaur
, 03/06/2014
Finland, like my homeland, Greece, is a small country at a treacherous geopolitical crossroads that traditionally inspired great anxiety amongst its people, but also instilled into their character considerable resilience. Unlike Greece, from the mid-1990s until fairly recently Finland succeeded in turning itself into a net exporting nation, ostensibly capable of powering its way into […]
The Modest Proposal for Overcoming the Eurozone Crisis, Version 3.0
, 15/05/2012
This blog was established in order to throw useful light on the Eurozone Crisis and, in particular, to present our Modest Proposal for resolving it. The first version was presented in November 2010. Since then we have had a number of updates. Today, I have the pleasure of posting Version 3.0, a thoroughly re-worked variant […]