Theoretically, Greece should have been a laboratory of left-wing policies, with its terrible combination of inequality, poverty and unemployment. But how feasible are left-wing policies within the eurozone? The question is relevant, not only because of the SYRIZA-led government in Greece, but also due to the prospect of a leftist coalition in Portugal. Global capitalism is conducive to leftist protest,…
Confrontations Europe: La Revue Numéro 110 – Le plan de sauvetage de la Grèce peut-il être adopté par le peuple grec ? Kalypso Nicolaidis, professeur à l’université d’Oxford et George Pagoulatos, professeur à l’université d’économie d’Athènes
Extract of Confrontations Europe, La Revue n°110 (in French) After 6 years of Great Depression, Greece signed its 3rd Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in August, an understanding with its EU partners as to the conditions for being bailed out yet again. What should we think about this deal? First, the size of fiscal adjustment required. The program envisages a gradual…
What are the implications of this second SYRIZA-Independent Greeks (ANEL) government? Once more Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras chose to form a coalition with the right-wing populists instead of the pro-EU center/center-left parties of PASOK and Potami. Looking at his government’s composition, apart from a few exceptions, kind words are difficult to come up with. But the important thing is to…
The political capital of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is largely the product of a big misunderstanding. Public surveys in the past few months have indicated that he remains Greece’s most popular politician, having convinced voters that he can keep the nation in the euro area while bringing austerity to an end. Like every collective delusion (or, some will say, like…