Greece’s poor fit in the Eurozone

By Anastasios Retzios

I know that some of the subjects here are a bit too technical for some.  However, they are the core of the current crisis in Greece.I promised answers to some specific issues that seem to pre-occupy some of the members. Here they are: (a)   “Optimal common currency area”:  There has been a lot of discussion on this rather very simple idea.  The area that is “optimal” for the introduction of a common currency includes countries and economies that are expected to behave identically at financial challenges.  To make this simple, an “optimal area for a common currency” is one in which the economy will show the same resilience (or weakness) upon a “down” business cycle or recession.

Lack of communication weakens the real economy

Anastasios Retzios

In the first place, I would like to explore the ongoing mistakes of the current government which actually sap the capacity of the country to recover in a speedy manner.“Frozen” by internal contradictions : The government seems to be “frozen in place” because the political organization behind it is split in two opposing and irreconcilable camps: there are those who understand that is high time that the country takes its financial future into its own hands and exits the Eurozone; there are others, including Varufakis and Tsakalotos (the prime negotiators and wealthy members of the Euro-elite) that cannot bring themselves to countenance such a possibility.  I think that Tsakalotos is the most vocal of those.  However “frozen in place” or “frozen in the headlights” is not the appropriate action for the government.  Tsipras may sound sanguine awaiting for a proposal from the Eurogroup (which is not going to come), but in reality he is simply awaiting to see if the Eurogroup will help him exit from the “stasis” that the dilemma has created.

Greece is essentially under attack by the conservative forces that control the Eurozone

By Anastasios Retzios

Greece is essentially under attack by the conservative forces that control the Eurozone (and, in extension, the whole of Europe).  This attack is unprecedented in modern European history. One has to go back to Napoleonic times and Concert of Europe to find out examples of the then powers conspiring and openly intervening to eradicate what they regarded as “revolutionary or radical” governments in other European states.  It is uncontestable that the leading governments of the Eurozone want to not only defeat but also humiliate the current government of Greece.  They want it to accept the total divestment of sovereignty that the lending agreement of 2012 legally enabled.  This includes the uncontrolled command of all policies in the country by the “Brussels group”.  One by one, the government’s “positions” are being erased and an occupation-style regime is forced upon the country.