Syriza’s plan for the Greek economy falls short: Grexit must not be ruled out February 5, 2015 After the failure of the new Greek finance minister’s tour of Europe’s capitals this week to produce a workable debt deal, Greece’s situation now seems terminal. Greece has an unemployment rate above 25 per cent, a debt-to-GDP ratio of almost 200 per cent and deflation of 2.6 per cent. The country’s economy has shrunk by [...]
Rude awakening for Greek hopes as ECB refuses to accept debt as funding collateral February 4, 2015 The new Greek government was left with a bloody nose last night after Eurozone central bankers abruptly scrapped their acceptance of the ailing Mediterranean country’s debt as collateral for funding. Syriza – Greece’s radical left-wing anti-austerity party – has spent this week sending its leaders on a charm offensive across Europe, confidently expecting to negotiate a [...]
Greek fallout hits Wall St in final minutes – New York Report February 4, 2015 Eurozone worries, caused by a stand-off between Greece and one of its creditors in the dying minutes of trade led the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq lower yesterday. The benchmark index added to losses late in the session after the European Central Bank (ECB) abruptly cancelled its acceptance of Greek bonds in return for funding. [...]
The woes of Greece prove why it’s national reforms that matter most February 4, 2015 The sovereign debt crisis that gripped the Eurozone in 2011-12 threw into the spotlight the problems with a currency union lacking fiscal transfers between members and the mutualisation of their debts. Indeed, it was only when European Central Bank (ECB) president Mario Draghi vowed, in July 2012, to do “whatever it takes” to save the [...]
Can game theory save the Greeks from euro oblivion? Don’t count on it February 3, 2015 Game theory is a big topic in academic economics. Indeed, it is scarcely possible to graduate from a good university without exposure to its abstruse logic. So perhaps the Greek government, replete with economists, is using game theory to plan its tactics for the coming negotiations with its creditors. Or is Chancellor Merkel herself being [...]
Adam Smith Institute calls on Osborne to back Varoufakis’s Greek debt-swap plan February 3, 2015 Greece's finance minister Yanis Varoufakis has found an enthusiastic backer for his debt restructuring plans in one of Britain's premier free-market think-tanks. Greece has abandoned demands for a write-off of foreign debt and has instead proposed swapping the outstanding debt for growth-linked bonds accompanied by a crackdown on tax evasion and budget surpluses. Varoufakis described [...]
Greek finance chief Yanis Varoufakis says debt deal will be done in days February 2, 2015 Greece’s finance minister yesterday hinted he had a solution to the struggling country’s looming debt crisis and expected a deal with creditors to be struck within days. Yanis Varoufakis unveiled a radical plan to restructure Greece’s debt as he went for talks at Downing Street and the City. He has no plans to write any of [...]
Greece-Eurozone standoff presents “greatest risk to economy” George Osborne warns as Yanis Varoufakis visits London February 2, 2015 The standoff between Greece and the Eurozone presents the greatest risk to the global economy, chancellor George Osborne has said. Osborne, who met Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis in London today, said both sides needed to consider how they worked in future, or risk derailing growth, both globally and specifically within the UK. Varoufakis [...]
As Tsipras says that Greece won’t default on its debts, is a compromise still likely? January 28, 2015 Dario Perkins, chief European economist at Lombard Street Research, says Yes It’s hard to disentangle rhetoric and bargaining tactics from official “red lines,” but there is still scope for a mutually beneficial deal. The Troika could quite easily cut the future value of Greek debts by extending maturities and lowering interest rates, without imposing immediate [...]
Why Syriza’s fairy tales will devastate Greece – and the wider Eurozone too January 26, 2015 When I was 16 years old, my family (bless them) scraped together enough money to send me to Europe; the first place I touched down on the continent was Athens. A longstanding – and correct – family joke makes it clear that, in many ways, I intellectually never came back from that first trip. It’s [...]