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Greek Crisis
Yanis Varoufakis: “Syriza Was a Bigger Blow to the Left Than Thatcher” – JACOBIN
Former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis told Jacobin why he’s publishing his secret recordings of the critical Eurogroup meetings of 2015 — and why the Left around Europe is struggling to overcome Syriza’s disastrous legacy. Yanis Varoufakis during his speech in Hellenic Parliament. Dimitrios Karvountzis / Pacific Press / LightRocket via Getty INTERVIEW BY George […]
ΜέΡΑ25: 7+1 Μέτρα Στήριξης 3,6 δις του ΕΣΥ, της εργασίας, των μικρομεσαίων, των ευάλωτων και των υποδομών
Κάθε επιδημία, βιολογική ή οικονομική, απαιτεί άμεση δράση πριν εξαπλωθεί. Την ώρα που κυβέρνηση και Eurogroup ωλιγορούν, το ΜέΡΑ25 κατέθεσε (10-3-2020) συγκεκριμένη, κοστολογημένη πρόταση άμεσης εφαρμοσιμότητας για την αντιμετώπιση της Νέας Ύφεσης που ερχόταν έτσι κι αλλιώς αλλά η οποία, λόγω κορωνοϊού θα έρθει γρηγορότερα και θα είναι βαθύτερη: 510 εκ για το Εθνικό Σύστημα […]
Oligarchy & Xenophobia: The only beneficiaries of Greece’s economic ‘recovery’ – The Guardian
Spring is already in the air across Greece. Even in the bleakest of times, nature’s renaissance renders hope irrepressible. But this one is proving a cruel spring for a people caught up in a decade-old crisis yielding one ritual humiliation after another. Costas runs a small bookshop in my central Athens neighbourhood. Although jovial by […]
Euroleaks: Why release? And why now?
During 2015’s first half, as Greece’s finance minister, I participated in thirteen crucial Eurogroup meetings – before the SYRIZA government (disrespecting the referendum result of 5th July) capitulated. The result of that capitulation was my immediate resignation and a permanent austerity program (until… 2060). From the beginning, the first Eurogroup, it was clear that the […]
How Syriza’s capitulations allowed the Greek right to escape the dustbin of history – The New Statesman
The left-wing party’s embrace of austerity created the conditions for a parasitic and cruel oligarchy to return The Greek right is back: greedier, uglier and more focused than ever. The incoming New Democracy government is determined to reclaim full control of the state on behalf of the most parasitic segment of Greece’s oligarchy and, of course, of […]
A Greek Canary in a Global Goldmine – Project Syndicate op-ed 17 May 2019
ATHENS – The eurozone country that has become synonymous with insolvency is today proving to be a treasure-trove for some. Traders who bought Greek assets a few years ago have good reason to celebrate, having banked returns that no other market could have provided. But, as is often the case, an opportunity that seems too […]
EU Court defends the ECB’s right to cover up its illegal closure of Greece’s banks
The European Union Court today delivered its verdict: European citizens cannot be allowed to find out whether the ECB acted legally in closing down Greece’s banks in June 2015. Why? In the wording of the three judges, because such disclosure would affect the ECB’s “space to think in 2015 and also after 2015”. If this sounds […]
Greece was never bailed out; it remains a debtor’s prison and the EU won’t let go of the keys – op-ed in The Observer
Over the past week, the world’s media have been proclaiming the successful completion of the Greek financial rescue programmemounted in 2010 by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. Headlines celebrated the end of Greece’s bailout, even the termination of austerity. Buoyant reports from ground zero of the eurozone crisis portrayed Europe’s eight-year long Greek […]
An anniversary to savour: the three days that shook Europe – 3rd to 6th July 2015 (Extracts from my ADULTS IN THE ROOM)
Three years ago, today, the people of Greece staged a rebellion against their debt bondage. Though this rebellion was overthrown from within almost immediately, it remains a remarkable testimony to the power of a people to say No to the oligarchy, to wrestle control of the narrative of their circumstances from the inanely authoritarian elites, […]
Profiles in Euro-Denial: The thwarted euro reforms & Greece’s permanent debt bondage – Project Syndicate op-ed
ATHENS – Europe’s establishment is luxuriating in two recent announcements that would have been momentous even if they were only partly accurate: The end of Greece’s debt crisis, and a Franco-German accord to redesign the eurozone. Unfortunately, both reports offer fresh proof of the European Union establishment’s remarkable talent for never missing an opportunity to […]
Complete text of my interview with Corriere Della Sera’s Aldo Cazzullo (in English)
Corriere Della Sera, the Italian daily, published today an interview that I gave to Aldo Cazzullo. For the published version (in Italian of course), you can visit the paper’s site here. However, the published text is a heavily reduced version of the exchange between Mr Cazzullo and myself. For those interested in the full exchange, see […]
The Open Letter sent to me in 2015 by Paolo Savona & Giulio Tremonti, two former Italian ministers, on reforms to the EU that they considered necessary
Rome, July 24, 2015 To Yanis Varoufakis and Dominique Strauss-Khan Dear Yanis, dear Dominique, There is a place on earth that represents Europe’s very roots: Greece. Let us begin there. Athens, April 28, 1955. Albert Camus’ conference on “The future of Europe”.[1] On this occasion, participants agreed that the structural characteristics of European civilization are essentially […]