Tag Archives: Greece

Greece – Copout still more likely than Bailout or Burnout

Events in the past 48 hours have reinforced my long-held view that a copout – whereby the Troika grants the Greek government new loans in exchange for agreeing to strict reforms – is more likely than a full bailout (including significant debt forgiveness) or burnout (Greece defaults and leaves the eurozone). See Greece Lightening (28 January 2015) and Half-Time: Pass the smelling salts (3 July 2015). Read more

Half-time: Pass Me the Smelling Salts

Few of the big questions being asking at end-2014 have been answered in a convincing way. The Greek saga rolls into its sixth painful month but may finally be coming to at least a temporary conclusion. I still think a copout (new loans in exchange for reform) is more likely than a full-blown bailout (another large debt reduction) or burnout (Greece defaults and leaves eurozone).

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Greece: Too many chefs spoil the broth?

I commented on Twitter on Saturday morning that the “Greek crisis is as much about personalities as it is about cash: Tsipras, Varoufakis, Draghi, Dijsselbloem, Lagarde, Merkel, Tusk, Juncker, Putin, Obama”.  My view was reinforced by former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers’ argument in a Financial Times article posted Saturday afternoon that “Greece is no longer about numbers. It is about the high politics of Europe”[1]. Read more

Greece: Last chance saloon

It has been two arduous months since the Syriza party won the Greek elections on a platform to renegotiate the country’s debt and terminate austerity measures imposed by the IMF/ECB/European Commission Troika. The negotiations between Greek Finance Minister Varoufakis and his eurozone counterparts have generated much noise but seemingly achieved little. Read more

Greece Lightening

The ink has barely dried on the ECB’s shock-and-awe QE program that the market’s attention has already shifted back to Greece. The election over the weekend of a new government, led by Prime Minister Tsipras, has reignited the seemingly annual debate about whether/when Greece will default on its debt and leave the eurozone. Read more