This collection explores the current economic and political crisis in Greece and more widely in Europe. Greece is used to illustrate and exemplify the contradictions of the dominant paradigm of European modernity, the ruptures that are inherent to it, and the alternative modernity discourses that develop within Europe.

The “Greek Crisis” in Europe: Race, Class and Politics, critically analyses the publicity of the Greek debt crisis, by studying Greek, Danish and German mainstream media during the crisis’ early years (2009-2015). Mass media everywhere reproduced a sensualistic “Greek crisis” spectacle, while iterating neoliberal and occidentalist ideological myths. Overall, the Greek people were deemed guilty of a systemic crisis, supposedly enjoying lavish lifestyles on the EU’s expense. Using concrete examples, the study foregrounds neoorientalist, neoracist and classist stereotypes deployed in the construction and media coverage of the Greek crisis. These media practices are connected to the “soft politics” of the crisis, which produce public consensus over neoliberal reforms such as austerity and privatizations, and secure debt repayment from democratic interventions.

This volume investigates the policies and politics of extreme austerity, setting the crisis in Greece in its global context. Featuring multidisciplinary contributions and an exclusive interview with former Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, this is the first comprehensive account of the economic crisis at the heart of Europe.

"In this real-life political thriller, former Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou tells the inside story of the six years during which the Greek drama changed Europe and riveted the world. It is the story of a country forced by past mistakes into unprecedented actions with enormously painful consequences. A story about the people who shaped events by trying to respond to rapidly evolving circumstances often beyond their control. About decisions - good and bad, right and wrong - taken in official and behind-the-scenes gatherings in Brussels, Berlin, Frankfurt, Paris, London, New York, Washington and Athens; in Luxembourg châteaux courtyards, Davos kitchens and Bilderberg gatherings; in elegant offices and dreary basement meetings rooms.... Six years down the road since the crisis erupted, Greece is in its third bailout, still in a severe social and economic crisis, and there are so many questions. Were other solutions available? Should Greece have threatened to default in order to get a better deal? Should there have been debt relief from the beginning? Would Greece have been better off if it had left the Euro? Has Greece saved the Euro but not itself? The book addresses these questions with the eye of someone at the heart of decision-making during the crisis."--

In this book, former Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis examines the European debt crisis with particular reference to the case of Greece. Greece was the first Eurozone country to face an enormous deficit, which reached 15% of GDP in 2009. As the Greek crisis unfolded, other Eurozone countries displayed identical symptoms, albeit in varying degrees of severity. From a strictly Greek predicament the debt crisis quickly turned into a problem for the European Union as a whole. This first English language translation investigates the causes of this spillover and chronicles the policy responses to combat it. It also discusses Greece’s troubled political economy, the country’s difficulties in adjusting to the demands of its creditors and the vehement social and political reactions to the policy of austerity. Through his comprehensive and authoritative analysis, Simitis provides valuable insights into the crucial interconnection between Greece’s own economic troubles and the wider European search for macroeconomic stability and sustainable economic growth. As such, the book appeals well beyond those with a narrow academic interest in Greece. This is very much a discussion about the future of the Eurozone and the European Union as a whole.

The global financial and economic crisis has brought about many effects that are still difficult to interpret univocally. This book studies the consequences of the crisis on Europe by examining the effects on the European institutional setup, governance and architecture and by studying in detail the different member countries.

The euro's life, while only slightly more than a decade long, has been riddled by a series of challenges and crises. The eruption of the Greek crisis in 2010 took European policymakers by surprise and forced them to design responses to a quickly deteriorating situation. Even though Europe has final begun to stabilize, the disparity between the prosperous Northern countries, especially Germany, and the plummeting Southern countries, including Spain and Greece, has exacerbated economic and political problems within the Eurozone. Amidst loud and frequent debates, solutions have been enacted, but the struggles facing this monetary union continue to develop even today. The Euro Crisis and Its Aftermath was written to inform readers about the roots of this enduring European crisis and the alternative proposals for ending it. In four parts, Jean Pisani-Ferry explains the origins of the European currency, the build-up of imbalances and oversights that led to the crisis, the choices European policymakers have both addressed and ignored since 2010, and the evolution of the policy agenda and possible options for the future. The book is as much of an informative and analytical history as it is a discussion of solutions for a more prosperous European economy. Rather than putting forth and supporting a thesis, Pisani-Ferry helps readers understand the past and present of the euro crisis and form their own opinions about potential solutions. This book is not intended to reach only economists, as time has long passed since European monetary unification was a debate limited to academics. This book is also for the policy makers searching for solutions, citizens of Europe enduring the consequences, and the international community that has felt the effects of an unstable Eurozone.

In this book, former Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis examines the European debt crisis with particular reference to the case of Greece. Greece was the first Eurozone country to face an enormous deficit, which reached 15% of GDP in 2009. As the Greek crisis unfolded, other Eurozone countries displayed identical symptoms, albeit in varying degrees of severity. From a strictly Greek predicament the debt crisis quickly turned into a problem for the European Union as a whole. This first English language translation investigates the causes of this spillover and chronicles the policy responses to combat it. It also discusses Greece's troubled political economy, the country's difficulties in adjusting to the demands of its creditors and the vehement social and political reactions to the policy of austerity.

A #1 Sunday Times bestseller [UK] A titanic battle is being waged for Europe's integrity and soul, with the forces of reason and humanism losing out to growing irrationality, authoritarianism, and malice, promoting inequality and austerity. The whole world has a stake in a victory for rationality, liberty, democracy, and humanism. In January 2015, Yanis Varoufakis, an economics professor teaching in Austin, Texas, was elected to the Greek parliament with more votes than any other member of parliament. He was appointed finance minister and, in the whirlwind five months that followed, everything he had warned about-the perils of the euro's faulty design, the European Union's shortsighted austerity policies, financialized crony capitalism, American complicity and rising authoritarianism-was confirmed as the "troika" (the European Central Bank, International Monetary Fund, and European Commission) stonewalled his efforts to resolve Greece's economic crisis. Here, Varoufakis delivers a fresh look at the history of Europe's crisis and America's central role in it. He presents the ultimate case against austerity, proposing concrete policies for Europe that are necessary to address its crisis and avert contagion to America, China, and the rest of the world. With passionate, informative, and at times humorous prose, he warns that the implosion of an admittedly crisis-ridden and deeply irrational European monetary union should, and can, be avoided at all cost.

How does one distinguish between European Union investments that improve welfare and those that create economic malaise? Funding the Greek Crisis: The European Union, Cohesion Policies, and the Great Recession explores the sources of the Greek Crisis that lie primarily in EU policies that appeared to have worked better for other countries but not for Greece. Without overly simplifying the Greek condition, it provides insights into policies the countries of the euro area may need to implement in order to ensure collective cohesion and individual success. Arguing that EU preferences for autonomous investments discouraged organic development with lasting implications, Funding the Greek Crisis sheds new light on the nature of regional competitiveness and public economics. - Encompasses public economics, macroeconomics, international trade, competitiveness, microeconomics and regional development studies - Sheds light on key policies that affect millions of EU citizens - Examines Solow's growth model - Provides a different way of explaining growth from real business cycle theory