Agora
Posts in Politics
Politics trumping economic prudence in Greece
The politics of the Greek recovery narrative is consistently trumping prudence. For those who refuse to be blindsided by the staged recovery euphoria there is enough evidence on the ground in Athens to be concerned about during the past week.
Contributor: Jens Bastian
Categories: Politics (387), Economy (331), Greece (498)
One night in Cannes
There are few people in the world unhinged enough to have been willing to switch places with Greece's decision makers over the past few years. For all their failings, ministers, prime ministers and others have often found themselves in impossible situations, caught between a baying public at home and obdurate counterparts abroad. We must be clear that there were rarely straightforward solutions to Greece's problems since the start of the crisis.
Contributor: Nick Malkoutzis
Categories: Europe (282), Politics (387), Economy (331), Greece (498)
![Photo by Myrto Papadopoulos [www.myrtopapadopoulos.com]](resources/toolip/img-thumb/2013/11/06/tsipras_1000_myrto_0511-large.jpg "Photo by Myrto Papadopoulos [www.myrtopapadopoulos.com]")
Has SYRIZA's moment gone?
In June 2012, SYRIZA came within 171,000 votes of winning Greece’s national elections as part of an improbable but meteoric rise from raggle-taggle band of dreamy leftists to Europe’s premier anti-austerity crusaders. At the time it seemed that, even in electoral defeat, SYRIZA and its young leader Alexis Tsipras were laying a cornerstone for something much bigger. But events since then, especially over the last couple of weeks, suggest that we may have already seen SYRIZA’s finest moment.
Contributor: Nick Malkoutzis
Categories: Politics (387), Greece (498)
Does return to markets signal end of Greek crisis? The perils of ignoring macro-economic fundamentals
Politics today is the art of shaping a narrative, with the overriding preference being for one that is in harmony with markets and investors. This narrative is currently being formulated in real time in Greece. It is centred on the much anticipated return of the Greek sovereign to international bond markets.
Contributor: Jens Bastian
Categories: Europe (282), Politics (387), Economy (331), Greece (498)
Greece's ultimate sacrifice for stability
One of the ironies about the video showing ex-cabinet secretary Takis Baltakos in a furtive discussion with Golden Dawn spokesman Ilias Kasidiaris is that this unholy alliance was being forged in a room that had at least nine religious icons on its walls. Another is that it showed Golden Dawn, the self-styled anti-systemic party, was completely at ease with the idea of cosying up to and horsetrading with Prime Minister Antonis Samaras's right-hand man.
Contributor: Nick Malkoutzis
Categories: Politics (387), Greece (498)