Category Archives: Europe

Greece Negotiations Already Starting to Look Wobbly

Silly me! I thought that given that the Greek government had prostrated itself and had complied with the creditor demand to pass legislation double-plus quickly or else, that the worst of the hurdles to getting the third bailout passed had been surmounted.

I should know better than that.

Debt Miracle: Why the Country that Borrowed the Most Industrialised First

Is debt really that bad? This column looks at the towering debts, rapid tax hikes, and constant state of war that led to Britain’s Industrial Revolution, showing that the devil is in the detail when assessing sovereign debt. When we consider the dangers of debt in today’s world, we should keep an eye on its potential benefits as well.

Comparison of Greek and English Version of Kathimerini Scoop on Varoufakis Parallel Currency Plan

Filling in some details on a bombshell report about a call that Varoufakis had with hedge fund managers about a parallel currency.

Greece’s Drachma Drama: Why Planning Is Too Important to be Left to Economists

In conference call with hedgies, Yanis Varoufakis claims to have had approval to plan a parallel banking system using the drachma: Plan B.

Mathew D. Rose: The Crisis In Europe Has Only Just Begun

The larger political and economic costs of the crisis in Greece and Europe are only starting to come to light.

Don Quijones: The Mother of All Storms Builds Over Catalonia’s Independence

What first appeared as reduced tensions between Madrid and Spain’s north-eastern province was merely the calm before the mother of all storms.

Mario Draghi: The ECB Has No Mandate To Ensure Checks Clear Or Credit Cards Work

By Nathan Tankus, a writer from New York City. Follow him on Twitter at @NathanTankus Last week Mario Draghi held a press conference following the decision to raise ELA a paltry 900 million dollars for Greek banks. In that press conference he said many things but I’d like to focus on one passage that has gotten […]

Once Again on the IT Challenges in Converting to the Drachma

Why the left is not doing itself, or the Greek people, any favors by minimizing the difficulties in converting to the drachma.

Gaius Publius: Goldman Sachs – Masters of the Eurozone

Goldman Sachs wields more power in the Eurozone than you think. And it’s not hard to guess who benefits.

Dan Davies: Greek Banks Were Bigger Beneficiaries of the 2010 Bailout Than French and German Banks

Even though French and German banks benefitted from the 2010 Greek bailout, Greek banks did even more so.

Ugly Greek Bank Resolutions and Depositor Bail-Ins Coming Soon

Why the coming bank bail-ins in Greece are going to be far more costly in economic terms than most observers imagine.

Why Debt Sustains Corruption in Greece and Vice Versa

This post makes important observations about how the elite levels of Greece engage in rent-seeking, aka corruption, and can continue those strategies even in the face of economic collapse, to the detriment to the rest of Greek society.

The Failed Project of Europe

Lacking fiscal transfers, facing deflationary pressures, and unable to cope with popular reaction, the project of Europe is likely to fail.

Please Catch Our Discussion of Greece on Harry Shearer’s Le Show Today

We had a good conversation with Harry Shearer on Greece. Hope you will listen in!

Quick Update on Greece, Germany, and the IMF

We’d posted earlier this week that odds favored a Grexit. With the Greek bridge loan deal having passed the key hurdle of securing passage in the German Parliament, and Lagarde making it clear that the IMF will support an eventual bailout deal with “restructured” loans (ie, no haircuts), the odds have shifted. It is now more probable that this pillage-of-Greece program stays on track near term, meaning the so-called “third bailout” gets completed.