Captured Europe
Acemoglu, Daron, Johnson, Simon Europe’s policy elite – the people who call the shots at the national and eurozone level – are in serious trouble. They have mismanaged their way into a deep crisis, betraying all of the lofty promises of unity and prosperity issued when the euro was created. The currency union may survive, […]
The Greek Tragedy, Act II
Zingales, Luigi. A Greek tragedy is typically composed of three acts. The first sets the scene. It is only with the second that the plot reaches its climax. For current-day Greece, the imposition of “voluntary” losses on the country’s private creditors represents just the end of the beginning. The real tragedy has still to unfold. […]
Greece’s new bonds: Is another default coming?
Kirkegaard, Jacob Funk. It was the dog that didn’t bark. Greece defaults and nothing happens in the markets. There was no contagion, no panic, and no bank meltdowns because it was fully anticipated. For the often maligned Eurozone crisis strategy of ‘kicking the can down the road’, the events were an extraordinary vindication and success […]