Greece crisis: a failure of economics in the face of politics
The IMF’s report yesterday got swamped amid the gloom, despondency and fractiousness of the Greek crisis. It said, in short, Greece’s debt has become unsustainable.
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The IMF’s report yesterday got swamped amid the gloom, despondency and fractiousness of the Greek crisis. It said, in short, Greece’s debt has become unsustainable.
Politicians with Greece’s ruling Syriza party, including Prime Minister Tsipras, say the country should vote no in Sunday’s referendum, as the Bank of England warns of a “very dangerous” situation.
Last night’s ‘Yes’ campaign demo was big – I would say maybe a quarter bigger than the ‘No’ demo of Monday, and with a much more angry atmosphere.
Greece may only represent a fraction of Europe’s economy. But in everything else that can’t be easily measured by the IMF or ECB, it represents to much more.
With European stock markets falling and banks closed in Greece, the president of the European Commission warns that “egotism” and “tactics” have hampered efforts to resolve the Greek crisis.
While the far left government will pose the referendum as a vote for or against austerity, the right will say it’s an in-out vote for the single currency and the EU itself.
Greek PM Alexis Tsipras has just called a referendum on 5 July. This after spending most of the week locked in discussions with creditors…
While the proposal has caused outrage among the Greek conservatives and outrage among Syriza’s left-wing voters, the real problem is bigger.
The level of pressure that’s being exerted on Syriza right now, I don’t think is enough to derail a deal from below.
Ahead of a crucial meeting on the Greece debt crisis on Monday, Paul Mason presents a special long-read, offering five pictures of the country.
The country will divide: right versus left – as it has been divided since British tanks rolled into Syntagma Square in 1944 to install former Nazi collaborators into office.
If Greece misses crucial payments to the IMF and the European Central Bank, it could force the country out of the euro and, ultimately, the EU. So what would Grexit mean for Greece?
Zoi Konstantopoulou, Syriza MP and speaker of the Greek parliament, tells Channel 4 News her government is trying to serve its democratic mandate and not trying to blackmail Europe.
It is crunch time for Greece. If it fails to pay its debts it could be forced to leave the euro and the EU, and plunge into the unknown. These are the key dates as we approach possible Grexit.
With negotiations between Greece and its lenders stalled, but the differences amounting to around 0.6 per cent of Greek GDP, the stage is set for either a last-minute deal or a breakdown.