Agora
Posts on February 2014
The wrong prescription
As is customary by now the troika’s return to Athens has been accompanied by a flurry of speculation about how targets will be met. This time the focus is on the structural rather than fiscal side. This simply means replacing the back and forth between Greece and its lenders over excruciating details of how money will be saved with a similar tug of war over the minutiae of reforms.
Contributor: Nick Malkoutzis
Categories: Economy (316), Society (135), Greece (479)
Cooperatives on Cyprus: Why they were treated differently to banks
No country in an island in today’s integrated world. Thus, the lessons learned in one place can be used to identify problems elsewhere. Despite starting from a different source, the banking collapse in the USA has lessons for Cyprus and parallels to what happened on the island.
Contributors: Alexander Apostolides, Charis Michalis
Categories: Economy (316)
Should Greece really ask for a debt haircut?
There are very good reasons for arguing in favour of Greek public debt undergoing a haircut. Unfortunately, there are also some reasons for wondering whether things are not that simple and that a haircut might not be an ideal solution.
Contributor: Kostas Karkagiannis
Categories: Europe (279), Economy (316), Greece (479)
Spain’s economic recovery languishes amid graft scandals
Overwhelmed by corruption cases, Spain is struggling to recover from a two-year-long recession that is reflected in an unemployment rate that still remains over 25 percent -the second highest in the euro zone after Greece- and in a sluggish credit flow.
Contributor: Arturo Lopo
Categories: Europe (279), Politics (374), Economy (316), Society (135)
Buying time: The delayed crisis of democratic capitalism - a review
By now books about the financial crisis of 2008/09 and the sovereign debt crisis in the euro area since 2010 could fill entire libraries across the globe. The crisis narrative continues to carry such resonance in publishing houses, ranging from eye witness accounts, academic analysis, textbook guidance and even finding its way into novels.
Contributor: Jens Bastian
Categories: Europe (279), Politics (374), Economy (316), Society (135), Greece (479)