The Economics Peter Bofinger
Peter Bofinger, the prominent economic adviser to the German government, in a interview to the «Frankfurter Rundschau» paper sharply criticized the IMF-ECB austerity program that was implemented to debt ridden Greece, stating that “The continuing plight of the Greek economy is a result of the austerity measures dictated by the "troika", adding: "With the cuts, the economy has stalled, so the deficits rose, after which the troika demanded even harsher austerity measures." In this vicious cycle the system collapses. "The troika has violated basic laws of economic gravity."
It must be noted though that back in 2010 he appeared rather consistent with the austerity measures, as he told to Spiegel magazine that a tough reaction from Brussels would serve as a paradigm to the rest of the PIIGS:
“SPIEGEL: The European Commission has prescribed a strict program of austerity measure for Greece. The government in Athens needs to cut its budget deficit by 75 percent by 2012, and EU aid is not planned. But it is unclear whether Greece will be able to steer its way out of trouble on its own. Is Brussels risking a state bankruptcy?”Well, as Menander have said (Γνῶμαι 185)": “ When the oak falls, everyone cuts wood”
Peter Bofinger: “The tough stance against Greece is the only correct approach. A cash injection from Brussels would have set a dangerous precedent -- it would have signaled to other problem countries like Portugal or Spain that when the going gets tough, the European Union will rescue them”.
These people are considered scientists and experts and are ruling the world.They follow the wind to appear always on the right side. Bloody arrivistes!
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately it seems that the Greek economic professors have not contributed their input to the grave situation nether collectively nor individually and the population remains in the dark of ignorance. Skaperdas was definitely right to his study “Seven Myths about the Greek Debt Crisis” (http://www.socsci.uci.edu/~sskaperd/SkaperdasMythsWP1011.pdf) stating:
ReplyDelete“In reporting and in opinions presented in the mainstream Greek press there are a
surprising number of misconceptions and myths about the causes, consequences, and
available policies to combat the crisis. Some of the misconceptions are consciously
propagated by the government and mainstream media while they know that they are
untrue. Other misconceptions might be apparently believed by government officials,
those close to them and most of the press.
Many Greeks who are not economists or experts consciously or instinctively understand
that there is a serious problem with the dominant narrative, but they do not have the
knowledge to argue in detail against the misconceptions. Moreover, many of those who
know better and could argue against the misconceptions either self-censor or have
difficulties in accessing mainstream media”.