03-13-2015, 11:19 PM
Greece's new government is "radically opposed" to the privatization of certain businesses, particularly in the energy and infrastructure sectors, a senior cabinet minister said Wednesday as reforms talks with creditors were due to begin.
Greek minister: 'radically opposed' to some privatizations - Yahoo Finance
Relations between Greece and its creditors reached breaking point on Thursday as the country's finance minister accused the European Central Bank of "asphyxiating" the cash-strapped economy.
Greco-German relations reach breaking point as ECB warned to stop 'asphyxiating' Athens - Telegraph
One might expect that the negotiations between the Greeks and the "troika" (the European Commission, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund) would be mainly about reaching an agreement about the economics of the situation. But that would be wishful thinking. The Germans, along with smaller creditor countries, are dead-set against any relaxation of austerity and are adamant that “structural reform" must remain a condition of further financing. They think that offering easier terms would be economically counterproductive, not least because it would give the Greeks an opportunity to go back to their bad old ways.
Reforming Greek Reform by Dani Rodrik - Project Syndicate
The effectiveness of the Grexit threat depends on two conditions. First, Germany and other eurozone members must regard Grexit as a significant risk to themselves. Second, a return to the drachma must offer the prospect that the Greek economy will eventually do better on its own than in the currency union (and under the existing economic program). In the absence of the first condition, the eurozone will respond to Greece by saying, "Be our guest, leave." In the absence of the second condition, Greece's threat will not be credible.
Reforming Greek Reform by Dani Rodrik - Project Syndicate
Since the onset of the crisis, Greek wages have dropped by more than 15% – a process called, appropriately enough, internal devaluation. Yet the response in terms of exports has been disappointing. Though the country's whopping current-account deficit is gone, this reflects a collapse of imports – a result of austerity – rather than an export boom.
Reforming Greek Reform by Dani Rodrik - Project Syndicate
Resolving the crisis over Greece's funding needs is a job for policymakers and Athens—not the European Central Bank (ECB), the President of the German Bundesbank told CNBC on Thursday.
Saving Greece is not the ECB’s job: Weidmann
In an exclusive interview, Roubini Global Economics Co-Founder Nouriel Roubini discusses what a Greek exit from the euro would look like. He speaks to Bloomberg's Jonathan Ferro from the Ambrosetti Spring Workshop in Cernobbio, Italy.
Roubini: Massive Contagion If Greece Leaves the Euro - Bloomberg Business