Yanis Varoufakis vs Wolfgang Schauble: Debt stand-off intensifies as Germany refuses to back down on Greek austerity programme February 5, 2015 A tense meeting of the Greek and German finance ministers laid bare a still-considerable schism between the two Eurozone states yesterday, with little or no progress made over how to resolve Greece’s debt crisis. Neither Yanis Varoufakis nor Wolfgang Schauble gave away any ground during an uncomfortable press conference, with Varoufakis strongly criticising the austerity [...]
Mark Carney slams Eurozone austerity and urges common fiscal policy January 28, 2015 Mark Carney has launched a withering attack on the Eurozone's pursuit of austerity and urged a new course for European fiscal policy. Speaking in Dublin, the governor of the Bank of England warned the Eurozone could suffer another lost decade of stagnation and unemployment. "Since the financial crisis all major advanced economies have been in [...]
Tsipras joins up with right-wing party in anti-austerity coalition January 26, 2015 GREEK Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is set to appoint economics professor Yanis Varoufakis to lead his bid to renegotiate the country’s debts with the EU and International Monetary Fund. Tsipras’ party Syriza gained 149 of the 300 seats in parliament, and so needed a partner. It picked 13-strong Independent Greeks, or ANEL – another staunch [...]
Greece elections 2015: Syriza forms new anti-austerity coalition government with the Independent Greeks January 26, 2015 The formation of a new anti-austerity government has put Greece on course for a showdown with its international lenders. Syriza, the radical leftist party, which fell painstakingly short of an overall majority in Greece's general election yesterday, has formed a coalition government with another anti-austerity party Anel, also known as the Independent Greeks. "I want to [...]
Greek elections 2015: Anti-austerity Syriza party record historic win January 26, 2015 Greece was set for a showdown with its international lenders last night after the radical far-left party Syriza won the country’s general election. By the early hours of this morning Syriza appeared to be on the brink of forming a coalition deal with fellow anti-austerity party Anel. The euro plummeted in early trading today, [...]
Coalition’s policies hit richest the most: Top earners bear brunt of government’s austerity measures January 22, 2015 The richest section of society has lost out more than any other from the coalition’s policies on taxes and benefits, according to the UK’s most respected fiscal think-tank. People whose incomes fall in the top 10 per cent have been hit the most by measures brought in since May 2010 – both in terms of [...]
Greece Election 2015: Anti-austerity Syriza party raises Sunday stakes January 20, 2015 Greek anti-austerity party Syriza is on a collision course with European officials after ramping up its election campaign yesterday. The party is keen on renegotiating some of Greece’s debt. “To promote reforms one must settle the debt issue,” said Yiannis Dragasakis, the party’s senior economist, yesterday. Should Syriza win this Sunday – and polls currently place [...]
Thomas Piketty: Anti-austerity parties are good for Europe January 12, 2015 Economist Thomas Piketty's latest argument that the increased popularity of anti-austerity parties is actually "good news for Europe" will no-doubt rile many. He took the world by storm last year with the publication of Capital in the 21st Century which argued for a global, progressive tax of capital to combat increasing equality. It's attracted attention (and criticism) [...]
Could the Eurozone soon see a wave of anti-austerity rebellion? December 10, 2014 Adam Memon, head of economic research at the Centre for Policy Studies, says Yes. In Greece, a disastrous combination of sheer incompetence and an inability to grasp the severity of the Eurozone crisis has meant that Syriza, a party of the hard-Left, could soon form a new government. Syriza’s economic programme, which calls for a [...]
Autumn Statement 2014: Overdoing austerity would be self-defeating – don’t expect balanced budgets soon December 3, 2014 The chancellor issued his election manifesto yesterday, in the form of the Autumn Statement. And the good news for him is that the economic narrative is strong. GDP is now some 3.4 per cent above where it was before the crisis; we have been growing faster than any of our developed competitors. The Office for [...]