Greece | AEIdeas

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

The 1 chart that shows America is not Greece — yet

James Pethokoukis | December 14, 2012, 10:48 am

Spain and the United States have roughly the same debt-to-GDP ratios. So why has Spain been suffering through a debt crisis while US interest rates remain low? The key metric isn’t debt/GDP but rather the difference between government interest costs … read more >

Economics, International economy

Obama’s Greek economic headache

Desmond Lachman | July 6, 2012, 1:42 pm

The last thing that President Obama needs in the run-up to the November elections is a full scale economic crisis in Europe. Yet this week’s hardening of the IMF and EU’s stance towards any softening in the terms of Greece’s … read more >

Pethokoukis

E.J. Dionne is wrong. America is at risk of becoming Greece

James Pethokoukis | June 21, 2012, 3:38 pm

Don’t worry, says liberal pundit E.J. Dionne, America is nothing — nothing! — like Greece. But the U.S. is at risk of becoming like Greece in that Greece has clientelistic political systems where political parties reward supporters with individual benefits, such as jobs, when they get in office. read more >

Economics, Pethokoukis

Now Simon Johnson asks, ‘Wer soll das bezahlen?’ (‘Who is going to pay for that?’)

James Pethokoukis | June 21, 2012, 2:55 pm

It’s not to difficult to understand, really. The problem for the eurozone isn’t austerity — though tax hikes are the last thing the region needs — but, as economist Simon Johnson rightly notes, “the fact that these European countries locked … read more >

Foreign and Defense Policy, Europe and Russia

How ‘The Avengers’ explains everything that’s happening with Greece and the EU financial crisis

James Pethokoukis | May 17, 2012, 9:06 am

Recall the climactic battle at the end of The Avengers. It kind of explains the current state of the European financial crisis and the looming departure of Greece from the euro. The EU’s indebted members such as Greece, Ireland, Italy and Portugal—the … read more >

Foreign and Defense Policy, Europe and Russia

Eurozone Crisis 2012! What you missed while you were sleeping

James Pethokoukis | May 17, 2012, 7:51 am

Looking for more evidence that a Greek euro departure might cause a ripple or two? How about this: – Spain has seen its borrowing costs jump sharply at an auction of government bonds. That’s worrying, but the good news is … read more >

Economics, U.S. Economy

Don’t fool yourself, a Greek euro exit would be a fiasco

James Pethokoukis | May 16, 2012, 10:35 am

Last September, a UBS economic analysis said “the only way to hedge against a Euro break-up scenario is to own no Euro assets at all.” And would a Grexit lead to a euro break up? Who knows, though Charles Dallara of the … read more >

Politics and Public Opinion

Greece euro exit a time bomb under Obama reelection

James Pethokoukis | May 14, 2012, 2:40 pm

It wasn’t a meltdown in the mortgage-backed securities market that handed Barack Obama a near-landslide victory in 2008. No, it was fear. Or to put things in Wall Street lingo, it was “a lack of confidence.” As in “a lack … read more >

Foreign and Defense Policy, Europe and Russia

OK, here’s what wrong with Greece, too …

James Pethokoukis | May 9, 2012, 3:50 pm

Let me give Greece the same treatment that I did in the previous post: Here is the World Economic Forum analysis: Wow, I wonder why German taxpayers don’t want to cut Athens a check! Just as with Italy, Greece … read more >

Foreign and Defense Policy, Europe and Russia

‘Ruin, eldest daughter of Zeus, she blinds us all, that fatal madness’

James Pethokoukis | May 7, 2012, 11:11 am

A quick reminder of what AEI’s Desmond Lachman said last week: Over the past three years, the Greek economy has contracted by a staggering 16 percent while unemployment has soared from around 7 percent to beyond 21 percent. A weak … read more >

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