Revolting Europe
euro
The two scenarios now facing Greece
By Sergio Cesaratto The victory of ‘no’ opens two scenarios. The most likely is the further effort by the Syriza-led government to reach a new agreement with the Troika, but it is not clear why it should be given something that had not been given before. The financial upheaval of recent days may be such as … Continue reading
Euro, Europe and peace
One of the most well used arguments to criticize anything that directly or indirectly relates to a dissolution of the Euro (be it Grexit or other assumptions) is that this would significantly weaken the European Union or cause its dissolution. In saying this, those who defend this argument move seamlessly from an analytical finding (a … Continue reading
Spain’s jobs crisis will endure as long as we are in the euro
By Juan Torres López A crucial question for the Spanish economy is why we suffer a level of unemployment that is much higher than the rest of the economies that surround us. Obviously, it is a question with no simple unequivocal answer, for surely there are many factors that make our unemployment so high and … Continue reading
The costs and benefits of Grexit
Emiliano Brancaccio and Gennaro Zezza You cannot say that between 2010 and 2014, Greece has not “done their homework” assigned by the Troika. The tax burden has grown by five percentage points of GDP, public spending has fallen by a quarter and wages have fallen by twenty percentage points. The European Commission has always maintained … Continue reading
The Eurogroup-Greece Agreement
By Jacques Sapir The agreement reached Friday, February 20th between Greece and the Eurogroup has led to conflicting commentary. It is necessary, in order to understand this agreement, and to analyze it, to put it into context, both in the short and in the long term. This agreement was intended to prevent an immediate crisis, … Continue reading
A new ‘fiscal’ currency to tackle the Eurocrisis, from Greece to Italy
Enrico Grazzini To overcome the crisis the new Greece’s Minister of Finance Yanis Varoufakis is considering a new national ‘fiscal’ currency to that proposed for Italy by myself and my colleagues Luciano Gallino, Biagio Bossone, Marco Cattaneo, Guido Ortona, Stefano Sylos Labini (Helicopter Money per l’Italia: uscire dalla crisi con l’emissione di nuova moneta statale-fiscale complementare … Continue reading
3 Greek myths
By Vincente Navarro Dominant economic thinking, that is, neoliberalism, constantly uses lines of argument to create moods that make its proposals – always involving sacrifices by the masses – more tolerable and acceptable. These arguments are repeated in the mass media to the point they become the conventional wisdom. That is, the “platitudes” promoted by the … Continue reading
The German Chancellor and Grexit
By Jacques Sapir A Greek exit from the Euro, following the election on 25 January, is no longer unthinkable, Chancellor Angela Merkel admitted in the German weekly “Der Spiegel” on Saturday. This is an important statement, which can be analyzed in two different ways, neither of which are opposed to the other. The first reading … Continue reading
Without a national currency there is no democracy
Enrico Grazzini explains how Italy can save itself from Euro death Europe, and especially in Italy, is still struggling to understand the crucial value of money in the economy, politics and democracy. Unfortunately, the error is shared by much of the left. Everyone understands (at least apparently) that there is no political democracy without a democratic … Continue reading
The Plot to Topple Berlusconi
Much as many were relieved to see the back of Silvio Berlusconi as Italy’s PM during the height of the Eurozone crisis in 2011, the revelations by Tim Geithner should have all democrats including those on the Left deeply worried. EU officials approached the former US Treasury Secretary in November of that year with a plan to overthrow the billionaire … Continue reading
The recovery is a bluff
By Alfonso Gianni It may well be that this is a coincidence, but there are many who doubt it, including the leader writers of Italy’s financial daily Il Sole 24 Ore. The fact is that many economic indicators suddenly seem to indicate, exactly one month before the European elections, brighter prospects. The simplest hypothesis, and … Continue reading
The ECB and Europe’s deflationary spiral
IN THE RADICAL PRESS / IL MANIFESTO by Thomas Fazi* The latest figures from the European Central Bank are clear, and rubbish the rhetoric of “recovery” : the Eurozone is now on the brink of deflation. As one can easily deduce, if inflation indicates an increase in the prices of goods and services, deflation indicates … Continue reading
Valls as France’s new PM is poor casting – but that’s not the worst of it
By Jacques Sapir After what can only be called one of the worst defeats suffered by a “Left government” in local elections, a defeat that saw cities won by the Socialists over 100 years ago pass into the hands of the Right (Limoges), French President François Hollande has decided to thank the Prime Minister, Jean- … Continue reading
Pro-euro extremism is favouring the Gattopardi
Would Euro-break up trigger an economic catastrophe so violent as to lead Europe to the brink of war? This is just scaremongering according Emiliano Brancaccio, who argues that defenders of monetary union on the Left are encouraging the growth of the most reactionary and xenophobic forms nationalism. A proper discussion on the eurozone crisis requires first … Continue reading
The EU is a new form of colonialism – it’s time to break free
Spain has a future but it means breaking with the Eurozone and EU institutions, argue Hector Illueca and Adoración Guamán The economic crisis affecting our country and the austerity policies imposed by the troika (European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund) are leading to an increasingly evident social fracture. Astonished citizens observe the … Continue reading
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