Agora
Posts in Economy
![Photo by Can Esenbel [www.mundanepleasure.com]](resources/toolip/img-thumb/2013/10/10/blue_esenbel_800_1010-large.jpg "Photo by Can Esenbel [www.mundanepleasure.com]")
It remains a mystery
The Wall Street Journal leaked this week the minutes of an International Monetary Fund board meeting in May, 2010, just a few days before Greece signed its first bailout. The extracts reveal that there was serious concern among about a third of the country representatives, who raised serious objections about the Greek programme.
Contributor: Yiannis Mouzakis
Categories: Europe (282), Economy (331), Greece (498)
In hindsight it would have been nicer
The Greek bailout was primarily designed to protect the rest of the eurozone from contagion in its banking sector. It's basically as simple as that. International Monetary Fund managing director Christine Lagarde admitted as much in an interview on Monday. “The choice was made to make sure the Europeans built their firewall first before anything very serious was done about the Greek debt,” Lagarde told CNN's Christiane Amanpour.
Contributor: Yiannis Mouzakis
Categories: Europe (282), Economy (331), Greece (498)
Nightmare on Democracy Street
Fascists attacking communists: It could have been a story from war-ravaged Greece’s civil conflict in the late 40s. Instead, it is a tale from the streets of Athens, the capital of a long-standing member of the European Union, in 2013. Hopes had been building recently that Greece would soon wake from its economic nightmare but its political and social one may be just about to begin.
Contributor: Nick Malkoutzis
Categories: Politics (387), Economy (331), Society (142), Greece (498)
Is VAT all you've got?
Grabbing a coffee for 20 cents less doesn’t really sound like the start of an economic recovery but who knows, maybe after this week’s decision to cut value added tax at restaurants and cafes, Greece will soon be measuring out its success with coffee spoons.
Contributor: Nick Malkoutzis
Categories: Politics (387), Economy (331), Greece (498)
We need to talk about unemployment
At the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Council of Ministers in Paris on Wednesday, Greek Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras challenged the institution’s forecast that Greece will remain in recession next year, which would mean a seventh straight year of contraction. Stournaras thinks the OECD will be proved wrong. There isn’t a Greek in the world who doesn’t hope he will be proved right.
Contributors: Nick Malkoutzis, Yiannis Mouzakis
Categories: Economy (331), Greece (498)