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In Europe 29th December 2014

Greece will call national elections with Syriza and as one of the favourites forces

MADRID | The Corner | Greece’s prime minister failed to get his presidential candidate confirmed, which will lead to an early parliamentary election that could end the nation’s international lifeline. It was important that the Greek government reached an agreement to appoint a  new PM. However, the third and decisive time only gave 168 votes to Antonis Samaras, the same as in the previous round. This means that there will be early elections and the possibility of Syriza reaching the government is even closer.

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In Europe 21st December 2014

Eurozone’s plight

MADRID | By JP Marín Arrese | Once again, Greece has ignited the flame of instability in the Eurozone. The prospect of early elections coupled with the left-wing party´s scores in the polls has resulted in severe shock-waves hitting other South-Med countries. The promised debt default by the better placed candidate in this race stands as a formidable threat to Europe. What happens in this relatively small country is bound to hit all of us. Confidence in sovereigns will dramatically fall while financials will also bear the brunt. 

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In Europe 18th December 2014

Greece: The one question Syriza needs to answer

ATHENS | By Yiannis Mouzakis via  MacroPolis | With the coalition in Greece getting only 160 votes for its presidential candidate in the first ballot, falling short even of the most conservative estimate, based on the currently available information it seems that the number of deputies that will vote in favour in the third round on December 29th will not reach the minimum 180 required.

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In Europe 17th December 2014

Greece: Where did it all go wrong?

ATHENS | By Nick Malkoutzis via MacroPolis | When Greece returned to international bond markets in April this year after a four-year exile, it was trumpeted by Prime Minister Antonis Samaras as another step towards the crisis exit door. “Confidence in our country was confirmed by the most objective judge – the markets,” he said after investors snapped up three billion euros of five-year bonds with a coupon of 4.75 percent. Exactly seven months later, though, the yield on those bonds shot up to almost 10 percent. Suddenly, the markets do not seem so confident. So, what went wrong? 

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In Europe 16th December 2014

Greek elections: Syriza’s date with history

ATHENS | By Nick Malkoutzis via MacroPolis | Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras is following a well-trodden route by trying to force early elections over the presidential ballot. Several others before him have tried to exploit the loophole in the Greek constitution which means that snap polls have to be held if 180 MPs cannot be found to back a presidential candidate. The most recent opposition leader to follow this tactic was PASOK’s George Papandreou in 2009. 

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In Europe 9th December 2014

Greek economy: 2014 is not 2012

ATHENS | By Yiannis Mouzakis via MacroPolis | Since the eurozone crisis kicked off towards the end of 2009 in Greece there has been no other institution that has gained in prominence like the European Central Bank. 

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In Europe 4th December 2014

No happy returns for Greece

ATHENS | By Jens Bastian via MacroPolis | Last week saw Greek politicians clock up air miles to European destinations. Government representatives flew to Paris in order to meet a troika delegation that has repeatedly delayed its return to Athens. 

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In Europe 27th November 2014

Waiting for Godot in Greece

ATHENS | By Jens Bastian via MacroPolis | According to its Wikipedia article, Waiting for Godot by Irish writer Samuel Beckett is an absurdist play, in which two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, wait endlessly and in vain for the arrival of someone named Godot. The current situation in Athens has remarkable similarities with this classic piece of European literature. 

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In Europe 20th November 2014

Is there (sustainable) growth in Greece?

ATHENS | By Jens Bastian at The Agora | Greece finally exited its six-year long recession in the third quarter of 2014. The Hellenic Statistical Authority ELSTAT said that the economy grew by 0.7 percent in the third quarter (compared to the same quarter in 2013). The positive third quarter reading is the first after 24 consecutive quarters of negative GDP performance dating back to Q3 2008. Still, the economic damage from this recession is staggering. It will take years – perhaps even decades – to bring Greece’s real economy back to the levels last achieved in 2007. 

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In Europe 18th November 2014

Crush the Greeks!

ATHENS | By Yanis Varoufakis via Truman | Tim Geithner is now on the public record, confirming that which we have always known: In February 2010, clueless as to the Euro Crisis that was about to engulf them, Northern European leaders decided to crush Greece. Collectively to punish (against even the Geneva Convention) a nation for having gone bankrupt within a Eurozone whose architecture never took into consideration the possibility that a member-state could become insolvent.