Μου λείπει ο James Tobin…
…είχε γράψει ο Paul Krugman, μια μέρα μετά το θάνατό του, στις 12 Μαρτίου του 2002, στους New York Times. Και συμπλήρωνε: «…ήταν σπουδαίος οικονομολόγος και καλός άνθρωπος …συμβόλιζε μια εποχή, στην οποία η οικονομική συζήτηση ήταν ομορφότερη και τιμιότερη από ότι είναι σήμερα…». Η έλλειψη αυτή που ένιωθε ο Paul Krugman θα ήταν, ενδεχομένως, […]
Sovereign Defaults: The Price of Haircuts
Cruces, Juan, Trebesch, Christoph. A main puzzle in the sovereign debt literature is that defaults have only minor effects on subsequent borrowing costs and access to credit. This paper comes to a different conclusion. We construct the first complete database of investor losses (“haircuts”) in all restructurings with foreign banks and bondholders from 1970 until 2010, covering […]
A Path through Europe’s Minefield
Soros, George. Earlier this week, a group of almost 100 prominent Europeans delivered an open letter to the leaders of all 17 eurozone countries. The letter said, in so many words, what the leaders of Europe now appear to have understood: they cannot go on “kicking the can down the road.” And, just as importantly, […]
A Standby Program for the Eurozone
Rajan, Raghuram. How will the eurozone crisis play out in the next few weeks? With luck, Italy may soon get a credible government of national unity, Spain will obtain a new government in November with a mandate for change, and Greece will do enough to avoid roiling the markets. But none of this can be […]
Coco for Europe
Eichengreen, Barry. After a year and half of delay and denial, Greece is about to restructure its debts. This, by itself, will not be enough to draw a line under the eurozone’s crisis. Greece will also have to downsize its public sector, reform tax administration, and take other steps to modernize its economy. Its European […]