REAL-WORLD INSIGHTS

Published: Jul 23 , 2015
Author: Stephen White

Two negotiated deals of historic significance. One between Greece and the EU/Eurozone, the other between Iran and the P5+1. Both are hailed as a victory for diplomacy. Both are rubbish. Both are being derided and disowned in all quarters. Both are disintegrating as the ink dries. What do we learn?...

Published: Mar 02 , 2015
Author: Yannis Dimarakis

Most of you have followed (to some extent at least) the negotiations between the recently elected Greek government and its European partners. Depending on his or her political persuasion, an observer may feel in a number of ways regarding the outcome. So was the agreement a huge success, or was it a full capitulation of the Greek government?...

Published: Feb 19 , 2015
Author: Yannis Dimarakis

As these lines are written, the negotiations between the Greek government and its Eurogroup partners are still under way. As the end result is not yet known (and probably will not be for some days) some mistakes of the Greek handling of the situation are already discernible. Here are three obvious mistakes I have selected to discuss in this article...

Published: Nov 22 , 2012
Author: Yannis Dimarakis

The Hellenic government has been struggling over the last 6 months to finalize an austerity package demanded by its 3 creditors (i.e. the IMF, the ECB and the European Commission – know as the “troika”). The package’s aim is to ensure that the deficit will be checked and that public spending will be reduced to sustainable levels. These measures are never popular as they usually entail steep salary and pension cuts, reductions in social benefits, decrease in the quality of health and education etc. None the less, this package, worth 11.5 bn € (a very heavy figure given the scale of the Hellenic economy), was a sine qua non for the release by the creditors of the next installment of funds to the government in Athens. So the pressure was on to wrap this up as soon as possible...