Monday memo #7: Grexit
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The Monday Memo reverses that approach. It brings together four pieces of outstanding writing with a common theme.
This week: Grexit
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Greece, Germany, And The Draghi Put (http://blog.mpettis.com/2015/02/when-do-we-decide-that-europe-must-restructure-much-of-its-debt)
Michael Pettis | China Financial Markets | 25th February 2015
Magnificent throughout. "With sovereign debt levels rising month after month in Europe, I don’t think we can simply assume infinite German patience. The value of the Draghi Put must be eroding, however slowly. I am not saying that I think there is currently any question of ECB credibility, but no institution has infinite debt capacity. A system that works powerfully in one direction can work just as powerfully in the other" (8,600 words)
Philippe Legrain Explains Europe (http://www.fivebooks.com/interviews/philippe-legrain-on-europe)
Sophie Roell | Five Books | 23rd June 2014
Former economic and strategic adviser to European Commission president José Manuel Barroso makes clear why he quit this year: "Particularly within the Eurozone, under instructions from Berlin, the EU has imposed catastrophic policies — excessive collective austerity that has caused a terrible recession, a failure to tackle the banks and opposition to debt write-downs — that has led to a plunge in support for the EU" (3,790 words)
The Merchants Of Europe (http://www.thebaffler.com/blog/merchants-of-europe)
Robert Applebaum | Baffler | 24th February 2015
Shakespeare's Merchant Of Venice as a moral compass in the Greek debt crisis. "What about that deep and disturbing realm of affect, of personal motives and destructive driving factors that operate beneath Shylock’s aggressive behavior? Is there not something else that underlies the bureaucrats’ demand that Greece hand over its pound of flesh — even if that may end up killing the debtor? Is there no appealing to mercy?" (880 words)
Greece’s Choice: Bargaining Versus Pleading (http://yanisvaroufakis.eu/2012/06/15/greeces-choice-bargaining-versus-pleading-a-piece-to-appear-in-the-huffington-post)
Yanis Varoufakis | Yanis Varoufakis | 15th June 2012
European politicians "resemble American Pentagon generals of the early 1970s, who could see that the Vietnam War could not be won, but who had no means of combining this realisation into a coordinated attempt to change course". The Eurozone is "heading for a major defeat", because nobody in authority dares to say that its economic policies no longer work, that new policies are needed. Perhaps Greece will provide the wake-up call (1,045 words)
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