Reality Check: Σε Απλά Ελληνικά

Το παρακάτω κείμενο είναι η προσωπική μου αντίληψη για ότι συνέβη στην Ελλάδα την τελευταία περίοδο.

Γιατί έγινε ότι έγινε?

Παραποιώντας τα οικονομικά της στοιχεία, η Ελλάδα “απέδειξε” πως μπορεί να συμμετάσχει σε μία νομισματική ένωση στην οποία συμμετείχαν οικονομίες πολύ πιο ισχυρές απο την δική της. Είναι σαν να συμμετέχει ο Αχιλλέας Φαρσάλων σε πρωτάθλημα που παίρνει μέρος η Μπαρτσελόνα και η Μίλαν. Η Ελλάδα δεν μπορούσε να γίνει ανταγωνιστική (να γίνει δηλαδή Μπαρτσελόνα) με αποτέλεσμα να συσσωρεύσει πάρα πολύ χρέος.

The euro ‘family’ has shown it is capable of real cruelty

The seemingly indestructible Angela Merkel can go without sleep, and still manage a half smile and speak about Greece’s wish to remain in “the euro family”. This may sound reasonable and pleasant. All families have their little local difficulties, don’t they? But they work through them. People see reason. When they are forced to.

 German chancellor Angela Merkel. 'By infantilising Greece, Germany resembles a child who closes its own eyes and thinks we can not see it.' Photograph: Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters

By infantilising Greece, Germany resembles a child who closes its own eyes and thinks we can not see it. We can. The world is watching what is being done to Greece in the name of euro stability.

Η ηθική του χρέους: Μια ιστορία οικονομικών αγίων και αμαρτωλών

Η λέξη «χρεοκοπία» σε έναν τοίχο στο Ντιτρόιτ, στις 25 Οκτωβρίου 2013. JOSHUA LOTT /REUTERS, στο Μίσιγκαν

Η πίστωση και το χρέος είναι κάτι περισσότερο από ορθολογικές συναλλαγές υλικών εντός μιας οικονομίας της αγοράς. Είναι κοινωνικά δομημένες [ενέργειες] και επικεντρώνονται σε θέματα σκληρών ηθικών κρίσεων για τον χαρακτήρα, την ισότητα και την «καλή πίστη». Οι κρίσεις αυτές, με την σειρά τους, συνδέονται με έντονα συναισθήματα δυσαρέσκειας, ντροπής και ταπείνωσης. Οι αλλαγές και οι αντικρουόμενες απεικονίσεις των προσωπικών πιστώσεων και χρεών επηρεάζουν σοβαρά την δύναμη και την ευημερία των κρατών.

Southeast Asia: The new piracy capital

Southeast Asia has recently regained the reputation as the world’s worst region for piracy. With one third of world shipping going through the regions’ waters, the costs to trade and shipping are likely to be extensive.   

According to a recent report from the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and International Maritime Bureau (IMB), since the start of 2015, Southeast Asia has accounted for 55 per cent of the world’s 54 piracy and armed robbery incidents. According to these statistics, Southeast Asia has regained the reputation as the region in the world most afflicted by piracy.

The Uncomfortable Truth About Debt

If it’s 1 a.m., it must be Greece.

Looking beyond Greece’s debt. Source: Fotolia [M]

Endless summits are the stuff of nightmares for European leaders who have spent five years attending meetings that run late into the Brussels night and morning. It was true again over the last 24 hours, as German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her counterparts worked through the night to hammer out a dealthat keeps the Mediterranean country within the 19-nation euro zone.

Greece talks: ‘Sorry, but there is no way you are leaving this room’

The closest Greece has come to leaving the eurozone was at around 6am on Monday morning, just as dawn was breaking over Brussels.

©Reuters

European Council president Donald Tusk

Alexis Tsipras of Greece and Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, decided after 14 hours of anguished talks that they had reached a dead end. With no room for compromise, neither saw any reason to carry on. Grexit was the only realistic option.

Ολόκληρο το κείμενο της συμφωνίας: Μέτρα, προαπαιτούμενα και σκληρές αλλαγές

EUROKINISSI

Στη δημοσιότητα δόθηκε στα ελληνικά ολόκληρο το κείμενο στο οποίο συμφώνησαν οι ηγέτες της ευρωζώνης με τον Αλέξη Τσίπρα και το οποίο θα αποτελέσει το βασικό προσχέδιο για τη συμφωνία πάνω στο τριετές δάνειο που θα δοθεί στην Ελλάδα.

The Ugly Heart of the European Project

Going into this past weekend, it looked as if the Grexit crisis that had occupied the world’s attention for weeks was finally heading into the final stretch.

Under pressure to comply with creditor demands, on Thursday Greece tabled a proposal that contained harsher austerity measures than the proposal that the Greek people had overwhelmingly rejected by referendum just one week prior. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras then quickly garnered parliamentary approval for his proposal, to avoid the country’s economic collapse, returning to the negotiating table this weekend. Under pressure to make labor reforms, liberalize markets, and accelerate privatization in the face of threats to exclude Greece from the eurozone from German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, Greece had caved. 

Greece and eurozone reach agreement in bailout talks

The government in Athens and its creditors have reached a deal that will shore up Greece’s place in the eurozone after marathon overnight talks.

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‘We have an a-Greek-ment’, Donald Tusk, the head of the European Council, tells the press after almost 17 hours of talks between Eurozone leaders

After 31 hours of acrimonious discussions spread over one tense weekend, a breakthrough came early on Monday morning. Donald Tusk, the head of the European Council, announced that the 19 leaders of the eurozone had unanimously reached agreement.

Reconciliation or Revisionism?: What (Not) to Expect From Shinzo Abe

Image Credit: Chatham House

More than two years after the return of Shinzo Abe and his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to government, few doubts remain that Japan is witnessing a profound shift in the parameters of its postwar security and defense posture. Abe and his LDP have pushed vigorously for the restoration of a “strong Japan” unconstrained by the institutions of its “postwar regime.” The reinterpretation of Japan’s constitution on July 1, 2014 marked the climax of this initiative, permitting Tokyo to exercise its right to collective self-defense in support of its security allies. The consecutive policy measures proposed to readjust the legal framework of Japan’s security system in line with the new constitutional reading have dramatically increased the stakes for Abe and his administration.