Greece, not again?

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One of the worst costs — for Germany — has been the lack productivity growth. For all the talk of Teutonic competitiveness, German labour productivity has grown at the meagre pace of just 0.6 per cent per year, on average, since 1998. Output per hour worked is actually lower now than it was in 2007. For perspective, this track record is worse than that of practically every other rich country — including Greece and Spain!

Michael Pettis explains the euro crisis (and a lot of other things, too) | FT Alphaville

Ambrose:  If they want to keep the euro: They must repeal the idiot Fiscal Compact since it guarantees twenty years of quasi depression that will destroy Europe altogether and reduce it to a seething mass of hatred, under-investment, and poverty. They must launch a real New Deal worth €1.5bn of infrastructure and high-tech projects immediately. They must rewrite the treaties to allow direct monetary financing of deficits ignite this with €2 trillion of helicopter money from the ECB, outright fiscal dominance, not with meaningless attempts to squeeze 20 more basis points out of the yield curve as they aim to to do with their QE. This would avert deflation and prevent a compound interest trap in half Europe. They must accept that monetary union means fiscal union. They must abolish the nation states in all but name and accept a latterday, polyglot, dysfunctional, Habsburg Empire. 2:04  Ambrose:  Since this is undesirable, undemocratic, dangerous, and impossible, why not just break the damn thing up

Greek crisis: put your questions to Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph

With no apparent progress over a debt deal for Greece, despite a week of high profile meetings between Varoufakis and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and their fellow euro zone ministers, there is growing speculation over the eventual outcome.

Greek debt drama is 'theater,' but stakes are high