THE HELLENIC LINK, Inc. ΕΛΛHNIKOS SΥNDESMOS
EditorialCommittee No. 129, May-June 2015
At this time of financial tribulation tormenting the people of Greece, the entire Hellenism, both within and outside its geographical Helladic limits, are similarly suffering and deeply exasperated seeking to extricate themselves from the long ordeal they have been experiencing. They all wish strongly that an effective and permanent solution to the immense national debt is reached so that the country can resume its course towards development and prosperity, and the Greek citizens become free from the shackle put on them by international lenders.
In this Bulletin, we project the collective expression for concern of 13 outstanding experts, members of the academic community who, with the conviction of their expert knowledge of economic matters, recommend in the following Declaration urgent action they believe will lead to the abatement of the crisis. We are indebted to Prof. Nicholas Economides, one of the 13 signers of the Declaration, for kindly bringing to our attention the ponderous position.
Sign the Agreement Now!
We have reached the end of negotiation that took several months, which was associated with debilitating lack of liquidity for the Greek State and for the private sector, all with enormous uncertainty. If an agreement with the Europeans is not immediately reached, Greece will default, inside or outside the Eurozone. Grexit would be a total disaster, involving collapse of the banking system due to massive withdrawals, high inflation, tremendous loss of purchasing power for the Greek population, shortages of basic goods, and marginalisation of the country. Even a default within the Eurozone would soon lead to Grexit, since it would be extremely difficult for any Greek government to handle it. It would require enormous support from the ECB, which would not be forthcoming. In a short time, the Greek government — voluntarily or under pressure — would transition to the new Drachma. Thus, both types of default (inside and outside the Eurozone) will lead to the total disaster associated with the new Drachma.
A last-minute agreement will be far from perfect and without the necessary structural reforms. However, it will be much better compared to the chaos of default and Drachma. The Greek government must sign this agreement now!
- Marios Angeletos, ΜΙΤ
- Costas Azariadis, Washington University in St. Louis
- George Constantinides, University of Chicago
- Haris Dellas, Universitat Bern
- Nikos Economides, New York University
- Michael Haliassos, Goethe University Frankfurt
- Yannis Ioannides, Tufts University
- Costas Meghir, Yale University
- Stylianos Perrakis, Concordia University
- Manolis Petrakis, University of Crete
- Chris Pissarides, Nobel Laureate, London School of Economics and University of
Cyprus
- Thanasis Stengos, University of Guelph
- Dimitris Vayanos, London School of Economics
Greek newspaper Kathimerini of June 14, 2015
Additional comments by Prof. Economides on the present status of the economic situation of Greece, the reader can find in the following series of presentations in public media:
- Bloomberg TV, Is It Game Over for Greece?, June 16, 2015
- Skai TV, Greek economic crisis, June 16, 2015 (in Greek)
- Skai radio, Greek economic crisis, June 16, 2015 (in Greek)
- Kathimerini, The solution for the Greek debt problem, Kathimerini, June 14, 2015 (in Greek)
- Kathimerini, Need for immediate agreement, June 14, 2015 (in Greek)
- Kathimerini, Sign the agreement now!, June 14, 2015 (in English)
- Mega TV, Greek economic crisis, June 14, 2015 (in Greek)
- Associated Press, Network neutrality, June 12, 2015
- ERT radio, Greek economic crisis, June 7, 2015 (in Greek)
- Bloomberg, Greece Defers IMF Payment as Merkel Says Resolution Far Away, June 4, 2015
- CNBC.com, Greece has two options: A deal or chaos, June 3, 2015
- Bloomberg News TV, Is a deal in sight?, June 2, 2015
