Europe’s Vindictive Privatization Plan for Greece

Jul 20, 2015 Yanis Varoufakis

Eurozone leaders are demanding that Greek public assets be transferred to a Treuhand-like fund – a fire-sale vehicle similar to the one used after the fall of the Berlin Wall to privatize all of the vanishing East German state’s public property. The plan should be a stigma on Europe’s conscience; worse, it is a wasted opportunity.

ATHENS – On July 12, the summit of eurozone leaders dictated its terms of surrender to Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who, terrified by the alternatives, accepted all of them. One of those terms concerned the disposition of Greece’s remaining public assets.

Eurozone leaders demanded that Greek public assets be transferred to a Treuhand-like fund – a fire-sale vehicle similar to the one used after the fall of the Berlin Wall to privatize quickly, at great financial loss, and with devastating effects on employment all of the vanishing East German state’s public property.

This Greek Treuhand would be based in – wait for it – Luxembourg, and would be run by an outfit overseen by Germany’s finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, the author of the scheme. It would complete the fire sales within three years. But, whereas the work of the original Treuhand was accompanied by massive West German investment in infrastructure and large-scale social transfers to the East German population, the people of Greece would receive no corresponding benefit of any sort.

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0 Comments on this paragraph, 58 Comments on this article

Joseph Meyer Oct 11, 2015

Dear Mr. Varoufakis,
altough I was and I still am a supporter of your vision for the Euro-Zone and for Europe, I do not understand, why you never proposed to introduce a national sovereign legal tender parallel to the Euro.
It would have and it would even now solve the money problems in G.
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Petros Diveris Jul 28, 2015

It is a very sad situation and indeed very sad days for Europe and democracy. It is my view is that we have now entered an era of what I call low intensity dictatorship, or the post-democratic era. It is one of these moments when one wishes that Yanis will be proved wrong, but he won't, unless we do something about it. I have written on the recent "agreement" and Germany's position here http://www.diveris.org/habari/we-need-to-talk-about-sch%C3%A4uble, for anyone who's interested. Feel free to comment.
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george sos Jul 27, 2015

He thought we live in a civilised europe,where the values of justice,honesty and the real knowledge are worth a penny...
He thought he will have to deal with other scientists who would kindly propose and argue.
We all did,except from those of us who knew all along there is no other way to win this fight but eliminate the few (or not so few) corrupt all over the world....
Keep talking about varoufakis and the lazy and unorganised greeks who ate the tax payers money from european allies...keep this myth going until they knock your own door.until they come for your country s assets and your private property.Then it will be no one left to hear you calling for help......this is reality europeans,(and others)...The rich banksters have occupied power and control the world...We keep talking about democracy and freedom as if they mean anything today....You should be thankful you live in countries where war hasnt yet arrived...because soon,there will be no safe place left.
I watch this world going to the dogs for the last 10 years,kept warning,kept talking about what the citizens must stop doing and what they should start fighting for.
But who cares?...no one it seems ,until the banksters arrive and eliminate your lives...your societies...then we ll talk again about varoufakis and greece...We are only the experiment of what it is to follow for all of us.All over the world.
We are in a war against people without any humanity in them,without any sign of humanism.We are up against a new kind of nazis,the econonazis as i call them..
And no they arent all german..the other side of the pond has a big portion of them ,as does asia(singapore,etc.)
And the way out is one.Reclaim ownership of our own countries,reclaim our rights our human rights and our dignity ,eliminate the money grabbers and greedy vultures,and share the resources of this world equally with all others.End poverty ,but not the way the few plan to do it(by exterminating poor all over the world).
Our future looks dark...the dark ages of the railway expansion in USA all over again.Banksters are the enemy.Full stop.Dont support them,dont work for them,dont use their services ,dont fund your own destruction by them.No matter how much they promise you ,there will come a moment that their greed will want your lives too........Wealthy people,boycott them,obstruct them ,every and any way you can...It is our only collective act that might save whatever they havent yet destroy.....the planet is ending because of their actions.The planet is dead in places because they wanted more profits....So what are you going to do?sit and wait?...(of course you will,in the hope you might be able to avoid the darkness.or in case they offer you some left overs ,to do their dirty work.....this is what they are counting on...
Never mind me,i am only the guy who predicted the greek crisis long before it happened...(and a lot other criseseseses..:):))
Racism,nationalism and the complexes of every cripple who thinks he knows best,who thinks he can do whatever his boss tells him without consequences...hidden behind glass doors...glass ...even if it is bulletproof...But it takes millions of human lives to break it...we allowed them to get there,now it is impossible to get them out.
So escape europe ,actually is the best case scenario...somewhere in latin america ,without german (oh wait,the nazis are there since WW2 arent they?I forgot...)..man ,nowhere to go any more.
Small lives in smal places is what we can do to avoid helping the vultures.But who is listening?
most want more ,more more,as if happiness is going to come to them through material crap made in china (or germany or wherever)...
Fakes,lies,tricks,more lies,this is the world the vultures made for us all...thank them now...
Jealous,retards who never knew anything but some numbers in a book,so they can get a job,as without it they d be dead already....useless for anything but destroying other peoples lives...IMF,and bollocks......No i am no communist.I just hate injustice ,intolerance and i had enough of the mediocre retards who pose for specialists.
With fake or paid MBAs and PhDs publishing "books" and papers ,that their own peers,(from the same source) evaluate...sure,specialists,scientists...It doesnt matter they cant put 2+2 together..all that matters is "reputation" and connections in this age of modern thieves.....
Thank god i managed to enjoy life when i had the chance(yes i know a lot of people hate me for that too)...If it was today i wouldnt even start dreaming about doing what i did the last 20 years....the planet is getting smaller by the second(wars,poverty,disease,experiments,stealing of sovereign countries assets,etc)...No place left to go...Thank god i had the chance to see and live before all this takes hold of our life...
But if i was young,i know i d probably be now planning some big move.
No way i d live the rest of my life without hope...Now i dont really care for me...But the young people should be really up in arms.And they d be right to do so....
Yannis ,stop the crap about respecting scauble and these IMF vultures..if you do,you probably are one of them...Are you ?
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hari naidu Jul 27, 2015

In Greece, last weekend, it became clear:

(1) Tsipras & JanisV were in conspiracy to unlock Greece Central Bank(GCB) codes & its accounts;

(2) JV procrastinated (Feb – until his firing!) while willfully preparing codes to unlock GCB accounts;

(3) Grexit & introduction of Drachma was their professed strategy.

Details will surely unfold as Greek press finally uncovers the conspiracy by Tsipras & JV….

Prof Wenn (IFO) was right about Plan A & B – bad cop (JV) & good cop (Tsipras). So was A Kaletsky in his analysis.

American academic economists (Gailbraith/Stieglitz/Sachs. et.al) are what they are: ivory tower thinkers on the left.

I reveled Janis interview with New Statesman (NS) in which he implicitly gave vent to Grexit as his strategic outlook…while (since Feb) he was trying to fix how to print Drachmas & loot Euro deposits of Greek sovereigns.

What is the lesson from this Greece & Euro imbroglio – since days of Papandreou Sr?
- hari naidu Jul 28, 2015
  
  That's what you think...wait until the criminal charges come forth before you open your mouth!
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- Petros Diveris Jul 28, 2015
  
  There is no such thing as "unlocking codes". You are referring the unique tax identifier of each individual to which the minister of course has access. Do some research before posting rubbish, what YV wanted to do is allow payments through a parallel system, which would be using those IDs to identify accounts. There isn't really anything illegal in doing such thing, let alone *thinking* about it.
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Ron Chandler Jul 27, 2015

The Eurogarchs have guaranteed they will never recover their money, and they will drive Greece to revolution, and likely, war. That is the price of their arrogance and their idiocy. The European Project is finished.
I find it intriguing that Mr Varoufakis likens the odious 'trust fund' to Treuhand, which emerged only after the murders of two German economists who had formulated a much more constructive plan, (Rohwedder was one).
I am driven to entertain a conspiracy theory. Alexis Tsipras was threatened personally by the Brussels criminals. After all, this is nothing new. How else to account for his total capitulation, with the visibly catastrophic consequences, when the Greek people had heroically handed him a mandate to stand up? Even now, I'm betting he has his bags packed.
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Greg Hall Jul 27, 2015

Most of the world's top economic experts say that austerity is the wrong approach. The real key is: how to get Greece back on the right track, with a sustainable pay down regime, that leaves Greece more efficient, more modern down the road?
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Rui ferreira Jul 26, 2015

"This ass..." The civility level of the "extreme center" commentary, even in a forum like this one, against the ones perceived as "extremists", just because they don't follow the dominant narrative, never ceases to baffle me.
More baffling: it is now widely agreed, across the european political spectrum, that the outcome of the negotiations with Greece was nothing short of a purposeless humilliating and vindicative ultimatum. But no one seems to be willing to draw the necessary conclusions from that fact.
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simon noble Jul 26, 2015

With friends like these Tsipras doesn't need enemies.
Yanis is spinning like a weathervane to cover his tracks and earn some money. Perhaps the reason he didnt get a reply is that by June 19 he was off the negotiating team and after his toxic behavior no one wanted to waste their time engaging in TED debates. As for the substance of the proposal it is truly breathtaking in its naivety. The Greek parliament - which for 35 years has ridden the joy ride to disaster - is suddenly got to be a responsible overseer of a new agency for public assets is laughable. And that with a mere E30-40bn untold riches are there for the taking...I know number of Nigerians who Yanis should be speaking to about trapped assets and wonderful business schemes - all they need is he is bank account number...
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Ian Maitland Jul 26, 2015

Why doesn't Varoufakis just apologize and make a quiet exit stage left?
- simon noble Jul 26, 2015
  
  because he has a book deal and lecture tour to think about
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John Ellis Jul 26, 2015

This ass and his boss cost the Greek people about 40 billion Euros. Now he's engaged another piece of deception. Yes it was proposed the privatization fund should be based in Luxembourg. I can't image why. Maybe it's because Greek government officials have been regularly indicted in privatization scams including three in just the past week!
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Andrés Mondaini Jul 25, 2015

From my most sincere point of view I have to admit that Greece´s economic situation oblied the country to accept what can be seen as an obligation to surrender on others political decisions, selling its assets on the most cheap prices ever, accepting a new deal just to roll over debt with the expectation of facing a cut of it via creditors in a future and oblyng the population to pay the costs without having enjoyed of the benefits. It is reccomendable for the Troika to read the paper of Rodrik "Good bye Washington Consensus hello Washington Confusion" and realize that world has changed, fiscal cuts, devaluation of currencies (if possible) and privatizations are not the unique set of economics tools to use, much more nowadays , when crisis are not due to country`s policies but for the private sector and moral hazard. Public sector is an important player of the economic system but protagonism shuld be given to it if not, is a dependance on private sector...
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Jakob Bauer Jul 25, 2015

The sad thing about "Treuhand" is its original meaning: "Trusted hand". This has been redefined. Treuhand now means something similar to Senator Richard Blumenthal's definition of the FIFA - A mafia-style crime syndicate in charge of the selling of public property.
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Peter Cullen Jul 25, 2015

Firstly, Congratulations Yanis! Well done! Without your painful contribution to the long and tedious negotiations with the “Troica”; or as I occasionally call them “The Triads” mainly to draw a metaphorical comparison with The Asian Triads whose operations are Nefarious and Criminal whereas this Western Variety the “Eurozone Traids” have managed to legitimize their operations by Legislation and Institutionalization of a Banking System which for its own gains destroys the fabric of Society: I am certain that even the minor gains made to the Draconian, Schäublian-Merkelian Treuhand plan offered previously would not have been gained by your replacement.
Your Resignation was perfectly timed, they hated your temerity in negotiations, and were so overjoyed at your departure that they weakened – Well done!
The document - “Ending the Greek Crisis”, which I now have briefly perused is hopeful, based on “Good Will” of the Troica and the ability; presuming “Good Will”; of them being able to sell, Politically, the idea to the Member States, which was, based on hindsight and the tone of some of the comments below, not possible.
“Ending the Greek Crisis” the 7 page document, presented a reasonable way out of the Problem, which, it should always be remembered is really a flow on from the “Global Financial Crisis” which was caused by unsustainable Banking Practices in the USA forwarded on to Europe, Asia and even to Australia, which in fact have changed very little.
Really without addressing the Fundamental Changes required to the “Global Banking System” there is very little chance of long term sustainable recovery for anyone.
As the commentary in this Video states: -
11:47 - At the moment in the UK “Money Creation and Control is largely in the hands of Private Banks”…..When banks issue money into circulation as loans essentially….
12:11 – That’s not a conspiracy theory – It’s not a… uh, a crackpot theory, it’s the way that the Bank of England describes the process :- “By far the largest role in creating money is played by the Banking Sector,.. when banks make loans they create credit and deposits for those that have borrowed the money.” (Paul Tucker – Deputy Governor of The Bank of England – Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin 2007 Q3 Vol. 47 No. 3.
A few Economists will realize how the money system works, but if you don’t – If you don’t realize the way that money works, and you think that everybody saving is going to work well for the economy… - What really happens, - Once you understand the way the Money System works – Is that everybody starts saving – The amount of money in the system shrinks…. And we have a Recession.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hojQ3eBaN7w

Earlier in the video, and I suggest all commenting here should watch at least the first half hour; there is mention of a survey that shows that 90% of the population of the UK don’t understand how the Money System works! And a few minutes after the last reported comment above there is mention of the ignorance of most Politicians….
Well done Yanis, please keep writing, don’t be deterred by the lack of support from the Mass Media or by the still largely uninformed comments – There is a massive education process required and the Internet must play a large role in it, mostly outside of the Main Stream Media who are it seems too tied to the existing Money System, which is also tied to Big Oil and Gas – But that’s another story… Or is it?
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Joulie benoit Jul 24, 2015

La proposition de M. Varoufakis repose sur un financement auprès des marchés de capitaux ! Mais si un ancien Ministre des Finances ne comprends pas la réalité, c'est à dire que les marchés de capitaux n'ont aucune confiance en la Grèce, et que par conséquent ils ne prêteront pas un sou à la Holding dont parle l'ex Ministre, comment la Grèce peut s'en sortir avec des dirigeants pareils ?
- simon noble Jul 26, 2015
  
  Exactement! Don't know wether to laugh or cry. The idea that the Greek parliament is going to oversee an agency for public enterprises after decades of being unable to do that is a joke. And how Yanis can say with a straight face that with a mere E30-40billion of new debt (new debt!) huge value can be magicked up in a couple of years is admirable only its sheer chutzpah.
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Boyd Hebog Jul 24, 2015

Mr. Varoufakis describes the agreement between Greece and the other euro-zone members as "the terms of surrender". His choice of words bespeaks of his attitude which instead of being one of collaboration in good faith - as it should be among partners - was confrontational and polemic. This, coupled with his ineptitude as a finance minister, has resulted in a dramatic deterioration of the Greek economy and a deal which is far worse that the one initially offered by the country's creditors.

Euclid Tsakalotos, obviously a far more capable negotiator than Mr. Varoufakis, has managed to alleviate some of the more negative aspects of the deal. Should he and the Tsipras administration in general opt to deal with Greece's euro-zone partners responsibly and in good faith I'm quite certain the deal will be further improved in the upcoming negotiations.

Mr. Varoufakis is the worst Greek finance minister I can remember, and I am well into my middle age. Had he succeeded in his plans to ditch the euro and re-introduce a national currency, Greece would have been hurled into the worst humanitarian crisis Europe had seen since the second world war.

It's a good thing he was fired.
- simon noble Jul 27, 2015
  
  well put
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Stamatis Kavvadias Jul 24, 2015

As proven, Varoufakis and SYRIZA had no plan. Such proposals, as the one presented here, are blind to creditors' demands, which in turn are exacerbated, by their need to make profit sufficient for AAA-grade bank interest (French and German etc private banks' gains as well as public gains). Varoufakis starts saying the proposed privatization vehicle would be under parliament control and then states (a) it would be turned to a bank and (b) it would allow the *government* control over which assets are privitized.

Varoufakis fails to understand that the bubble that supported Greek social state through loans, can only be addressed in a self-sufficient way by some degree of fire-sails of public assets. But there would not be any breakthrough in negotiations, even with a self-sufficient approach, because the creditors want to make profit, which is a non-starter for Greece having lost 25% of its GDP.

All this is a futile political process. Grexit is inevitable.
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alessandro vitali Jul 23, 2015

On my opinion Varoufakis proposal is an "All-in" based on a new version of vodoo-economics to produce a Feeding the multitude miracle.

The last attempt to this kind of proposal ended in Greek GDP forecasts plummeting from +2.5 % to -3 % .
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Jaime Ferrer Jul 22, 2015

I personally don´t think the privatisation scheme which appears in the agreement is necessarily negative. Varoufakis says it´s a copy of the German "Treuhand" model but I don´t see anything in the agreement which indicates the assets should be rid in auction mode rapidly (BTW the Treuhand were set up to auction factories, not ports and factories only make sense if an established company runs them). Instead I read that a fund should be created to serve as loan guarantee, and that the proceeds from asset sales are to be 1,2 bn in 2015, 4 bn in 2016 and 1,4 bn in 2017, all very modest figures, implying that Greece can decide How and To Who..... This would mean that Greece could convert an EU demand into an opportunity. In most fast growing Latin American countries (eg. Colombia, Peru, Chile, ...) key infrastructure projects are launched via public private partnerships which: 1) Provide short-term needed cash to govts 2) commit operators to build & run old infrastructure to be expanded, or entirely new ones under gov´t - regulated rates and 3) provide future profit tax earnings as well as employment once the infrastructure is up and running. All of the above can be used to expand Greece´s infrastructure and attract new associated investment while the gov´t puts the proceeds in a fund that ensures new loans. This model could be applied for example to converting Greece into a logistical platform for goods coming from Asia into Eastern Europe, Balkans and the Black Sea by outsourcing ports and logistics to private operators who would by licences to opérate for say 30 years renewable.
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Luca Grande Jul 22, 2015

Dear Yanis, it is with my highest respect for you that I tell you how much you disappointed me. You and Tsipras were talking tough but had no aces up your sleeves. You should have gone ahead and pull the plug on this nonsense Euro project and you had five months to prepare your drachma printing presses. Stop fooling around, Greece has no competitive edge to live with the same currency of Germany and judging from the past 5 governments, especially TSIPRAS' SYRIZA, no plitical ability to turn things around either. You and Tsipras campaigned hard, promised big changes, gave desperate Greeks big hopes and now what? Your country is going to be liquidated and your people best hopes are either to emigrate or cater for the wishes of rich European tourists. I bet Schauble and Merkel will buy a Greek island for pennies soon
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Lora Barberopoulou Jul 21, 2015

the worst minister of finance ever he should be brought to Justice for High Treason....I wonder how come the District Attorney hasent even coscider the though after all he has done to the Greek Economy ....
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Teh President777 Jul 21, 2015

#OXI #OXIBankDictatorship #OXIBankWelfare #OXIInvestmentSavingsBanks #OXIDebtSlavery #ThisIsACoup

#BastilleDayIsComing
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Alexander Alexandrakis Jul 21, 2015

Mr. Varoufakis, as a graduate student and devout disciple of Robert W. Cox at York U. in Canada - but alas not a practicing political economist - I followed most of your public life during the last 5 years of the Greek crisis. I have to admit that I have agreed with 90% of what you have expressed and upheld at times and have supported you. Yet, I know find this opportunity to communicate to you that which I would have otherwise no other way of doing so: as of January 2015 in your role as Finance Minister of Greece, you did not make the switch from "academic subject matter expert" to "politician". As a politician, you role was no longer to champion the "truth" but to manage power as to get things done for your side, while convincing others they were getting their way. With all due respect and a very high esteem for your persona, while fighting the good fight, you did not manage to switch gears from economics to politics. Respectfully, Alexander Alexandrakis. alex@foreignoffice.gr
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M M Jul 21, 2015

Dearest Yanis. No one can deny that you and SYRIZA had a very difficult task from the outset. What happened has happened now but believe you me, your latest actions (including this article) are only adding fuel to existing raging fires. Your current attitude is totally unproductive and unhelpful. If you are sincere about helping your country and your party, you should have a clear mind first, start a new chapter by putting your knowledge and contacts into action and help the government from the outside at dealing with the challenges ahead. Privatisations (if implemented properly) are not a bad thing and they should work. One should learn from the mistakes of other countries and not let vultures come in and get everything at give-away prices and then push the cost of goods and services beyond the reach of the population. Offering / selling a stake to the Greek population in any privatised asset would not be a bad idea. The Greeks, I am more than adamant will support such a scheme. You can also assist by offering your services in the setting up of semi-governmental bodies to help the government ensure that any reform plan is implemented fairly and to the benefit of Greece. This is not going to be an easy task and shall require a special type of leadership and skills otherwise the fires of the last few days are going to be only a taste of what is to come.
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Carl Buzawa Jul 21, 2015

Yanis, as is typical of failed politicians who want to rewrite history, cleverly fails to mention that Greece's OWN Central Bank has stated that Tsipras' suggested reforms would actually have caused MORE economic contraction , then when they finally acceded to the European lenders' term. Why? Because they concentrated on heavier tax burdens all the while making no attempt to remove the clients,ism, favored industries, or slice the deaden share of the economy going to public employees and not addressing the pensioners that had the highest percentage of GNP going to pensions in the entire EU (which itself has the highest percent in regional terms in the world).

So Yanis is railing against something that couldn't exist...a continuation of the status quo with Greece regularly spending far more then their economy generates.

When you realize that SOMETzhziNG had to be done, the Greek Central Bank clearly indicated that the EUs solution was preferable to Yanis' doctrinaire socialist/ Marxist approach which almost certainly would have lead to an economic collapse
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Aragorn Ho Jul 21, 2015

Welcome to Project Syndicate, Mr. Hero!
By the way, you got any clue why Tspiras called for a referendum and then act in the opposite way?
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Volker Glaeser Jul 21, 2015

Is this fiction? Why should Europe have a vindictive plan for an economy as unimportant as Greece's? I think it's ridiculous 2 percent of Europe's GDP. Let us know, Dr Varoufakis?
- Volker Glaeser Jul 21, 2015
  
  You seem inspired to expose your intellect. That's brave.
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- Krzysztof Worytkiewicz Jul 21, 2015
  
  Mr. Glaeser, adding grotesque to ignorance, you even manage to speak in plural as if representing more than your sorry self... More importantly, you avoid the main issue at hand, while being picky about terminology. Hence an exercise for you: how much money you can loose when leveraging 30:1 these "ridiculous" 2% gdp?
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Margaret Bowker Jul 21, 2015

Paul Krugman recently said he was surprised Greece didn't have a plan b. Well, Greece said they did not want to leave the euro, an absolute red line, and therefore had not considered one. Personally, I took this statement literally. The government also wanted debt relief/ restructuring/ re-profiling and hoped to see one of them in the ESM third programme. A high conditions price was exacted that Sunday/Monday as promised by the creditors. One of the 'expensive' items was the privatisation initiative discussed here. Praise to Euclid Tsakalotos who ameliorated the plan because it has to be made to work. I think there will be a Development bank and a Bad Bank and considerable outside investment and debt relief of some type on a large scale. This third bailout is highly significant not only for Greece. It has to work and those sitting down on Thursday or whenever will need to have a flexible attitude.
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Koutounidis Nikolaos Jul 21, 2015

Yanis, now you are not the Finance Minister you refer to the institutions as TROIKA again? Admirable...
- Petros Ntokopoulos Jul 22, 2015
  
  Unfortunately experience has shown that people calling other people retards without any supporting arguments (ad hominem doesn't count) usually have some kind of retardation themselves. But let me be more specific supporting this claim for both of you. Dr. Varoufakis explicitly stated, trying to explain to a bunch of retards like you, the following: What was referred as Troica was a group of low rank officials from the three Institutions (ECB, IMF, EC) that didn't had any authorization to negotiate but only to make sure that the measures agreed in the signed MoU are imposed. He continued clarifying that the newly elected government will not negotiate with these low rank officials but only with the Institutions at the highest level - Θεσμούς, i.e. the presidents of the institutions. Which is exactly what happened next. So my dear retarded fellows, its not really that hard to understand what Dr. Varoufakis has said and was confirmed by the actions of the Greek government, isn't it ? But instead you choose to believe the stupid story served to you by the Greek media. If you think really hard (i know it's hard for you) you will see that this provides a clear indication that backs up my initial evaluation of your mental retardation.
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- Lora Barberopoulou Jul 21, 2015
  
  Yanis....has an issue...with Θεσμούς and Troika...you see...when in GREECE....its Thesmous....when abroad its Troika... as if Greeks are retards...but wait..they are actually they voted for him.
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Volker Glaeser Jul 21, 2015

Junge, Junge, was für eine Wortwahl. Mach Dich mal mit den geschichtlichen Fakten vertraut, bevor Du solch einen Unsinn verbreitest. Staatsfonds ist eine wunderbare Idee, um Griechenland für die Schulden bzw. ihre Rückzahlung auch in die Pflicht zu nehmen. Mit der Treuhand zur Bewältigung der DDR-Hinterlassenschaften hat sie im übrigen gar nichts zu tun. Es ist erschreckend, wie weit dieser Ex-Minister von den Fakten entfernt ist. Fahr Motorrad, Mann.
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Francesco Totino Jul 21, 2015

Dear Yanis , the agreements concluded between Greece and the European Union, imposed by the drama of the moment, are perhaps the only possible although totally insufficient. These agreements, so that they can lead to a stable development of the Greek economy, should be immediately followed by concrete measures for the reorganization of fiscal economic and social Greek system.
This crisis in the world is a crisis of legality and respect for the rules that affects more the most fragile and uncivilized countries. The economic instability in certain countries, as well as the rise of inequality among citizens is a consequence of this and depends not only on the economic and social structure of the country concerned (Greece, Italy or others ..) but also from the inability to efficiently manage finance and tax system by the International Institutions like UN, IMF, World Bank, IMF, that means from the effectiveness of International Politics by macro areas of our planet.
In the specific case of Greece, the first factor is the economic decay factor related to corruption in bureaucracy and cronyism .. much like Italy. Now, to overcome this impasse or negotiating block (one signed yesterday may be a smal part of it ) between Greece and the EU, both parties must agree on one fact: put Greece in a position to reach a number of years the standards of other European countries ..
This could be done with the support and direct involvement of experts from the EU countries and should interest any sector of the country. Only in this way Greece can hope and then to return to ensure stable and relible economic development and enable the EU to extend a loan that would be repaid.
This procedure that should also be adopted for other countries to heal their weak economies pervaded by this "social cancer", requires that the European Union, the USA, USSR and all the countries together with the international organizations will drawn up standard procedures of compliance rules intervening directly in each country to approve a plan that block tax evasion, tax havens, speculative finance and anti-corruption. Economic factors now re well recognized as the major deterrents to economic and social development as well as triggering factors of religious and military conflicts.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/New-Politic-and-Economic-Thinking-Independent-Government-Agenda/323797087665968?ref=hl
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Derek Louden Jul 21, 2015

I'm reminded of Jeffrey Sachs "Shock Therapy" for the Russian economy which saw the assets of a nation transferred to a handful of people. They became billionnaires. The people didn't do so good. Austerity has made the super rich much richer. An asset-stripping firesale shows the EU still has the capacity to make things much worse for the Greeks. That we've learned nothing from recent history is profoundly sad.
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Santaklaus Klaus Jul 21, 2015

Yo no lo llamaría "vengativo" puesto que la intención de quedarse con Grecia era inicial. Y lo mismo cabe decir de España y Portugal, países bastante pobres y endeudados.
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Avraam Dectis Jul 21, 2015

1) The Eurozone is an evolutionary advance that did not go far enough. The concept of a shared currency was one advance. They needed another advance to complete the evolution and deal with such crises.

The second advance needed was a "Central Bank Dividend". This workscas follows: In low inflation recessionary and indebted environments, the ECB ( in this case ), could declare a per capita Dividend, for example 1000 euros per capita.

This money would go to the Eurozone member countries central banks. For example, Greece with 11 million people would get 11 billion. Germany with 80 million would get 80 billion, and so forth.
The money would only be allowed for debt payments.

This simple mechanism, used once or twice a year for a few years,could resolve the crisis and allow remaining issues to be addressed at leisure. It has the advantage of avoiding resentments by treating all countries equally. It also adds an arrow in the quiver of monetary authorities that may be used when the politicians descend into stupidity. Inflation is unlikely to be an issue.

All you need is that one simple elegant mechanism.

2) Economic systems should be in harmony with human nature. It is one of the reasons communism fails and capitalism wins.

There are many forms of capitalism and it may be that the form that suits the north may not be the form that suits the south.

If Greeks do not like paying taxes, why not design a robust economic system that does not tax income?

I suggest Bond Funded Government. Instead of a small fraction of the budget raised through bonds, the majority of the budget should be. Bonds paid off through monetization. The balance of the budget raised through asset taxes, like on real estate or maybe sales taxes.

The obvious concern is inflation - yet we know how to control inflation without income taxes. High interest rates are a start. High down payment requirements on loans would help. Essentially more controls on how much the banks can insert into the economy. We know this works.

I think most Greeks would be quite happy to pay no income tax even if it meant that loans were harder to get and more expensive.

Of course, you would have to slip the euro straitjacket to go to Bond Funded Government.

Thank you for your time.

Avraam Jack Dectis
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Henry Rech Jul 21, 2015

It is understandable that YV views the EZ proposals in the manner he does. However, it is also clear that Schauble, in particular, wants Greece out of the EZ and that the EZ proposals are a means of putting maximum pressure on Greece to leave the EZ. It seems that Schauble is unrelenting in this aim. Given the myriad of difficult problems that confront the Greek state, not least of which is a mountain of debt, why the Greeks don't take the option of an exit, I can't understand. Schauble has reportedly offered German funding for an exit. Reading between the lines, he may also be offering a substantial debt haircut. Why doesn't Greece take it? What could be more welcome to all sides than a negotiated, assisted, managed and orderly exit from the EZ. Greece would need not leave the EU. In fact, I would I imagine it would be encouraged to and would want to remain in the EU. It could receive funding to stabilize its banking system as a first course. Greece could deal with its many problems in it own way and time without a currency that is not in keeping with internal conditions and without external interference in its sovereign affairs.
- Christopher Worth Jul 27, 2015
  
  Hear, hear (strange English phrase for you have hit the nail on the head!) Mr Rechs. What further economic disaster could the country suffer by exit, especially if it was a cooperative one with German "approval." A devalued currency to boost exports, especially of the largest industry, tourism, a healthy little dose of inflation to kick start domestic aggregate demand, and before you know it, Iceland's booming economy reincarnated on the Mediterranean. Is this not actually what Yanis Varoufakis is working on at the moment? If not, he should be.
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Astrid Essed Jul 21, 2015

EU DEAL WITH GREECE/CRIME AGAINST THE GREEK PEOPLE
Mr Varoufakis is right about the toxic privatisation plan, but the EU
deal is dar more attainted, because of the harsh austerity, like
cutting the pensions, 13 percent VAT on elementary supploes [in
the Netherlands it is 6 percent!] against an already impoverished
population, the freezing of collective labour agreements and the violation
of the right to strike. All those measures bringing more misery still yo
the Greek population and therefore a crime against the Greek people.
And still more shocking: the brutal violation of the Greek sovreignty by
obliging the Greek government to pass draft legislation on ''relevant''
affairs to the Trojka first. This is reducing Greece to a colony! The EU
deal shows clearly the way Europe always treated third world
countries [and still does], and it's an utter shame! A shame and disgrace
also, that prime minister Tsipras so betrayed OXI and the needs of the
Greek people, that he consented to measures, he had promised to fight!
A Grexit would be better for Greece, because, although the hardship
in the beginning [with the EU deal there is hardship anyway], the econimy
eventually would likely recover and at least Greece would take it''
s fate in it's own hands. Loans of Russia or China would be an alternative.
Greek people, don''t accept these terms and fight austerity. Don't turn
to the neo nazi Golden Dawn, which will take advantage of this situation.
ELEUTHERIA OU THANATOS!
http://www.astridessed.nl/eu-deal-with-greececapitulation-tsiprasbetrayal-of-oxi-ideal/
Astrid Essed/Amsterdam/The Netherlands
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Rene Caisse Jul 20, 2015

Yanis Varoufakis is probably the only economist who understands economy. A great interview with Harald Schumann is found here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNItYoJhgmk ). The Troika is not based on economy, however. It's based on ideology. And the ideology is that those with money will live and those without will die. It's not the Greek people who are getting bailed out, it's the investment bankers. This is not a public debt. This is private debt incurred by bondholders and speculators in Germany, France, and the US. They are being bailed out. In the 2012 annual report, the Deutsche Bank, the largest of Germany's commercial banks, has a staggering 55.6 trillion Euro's of Derivative Debt.
http://speri.dept.shef.ac.uk/2013/11/11/dirty-secret-euro-zone-crisis-german-banks/
Greece was sacrificed for the continued stability of the financial market.
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Lutz Loch Jul 20, 2015

You and your American Professor friends are dealing in aggressive national macrostereotyping for whatever your goals may be.
Pathetic and enlightening.
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John Arons Jul 20, 2015

There are times when you can be absolutely right and make a decision that supports your logic and satisfies your conscience but is wrong as it fails to achieve your goals. I believe Mr Varoufakis is a brilliant Economist that has exposed serious flaws in the European Union as well as speculative Capitalism in his book and writings but he fails to give sufficient weight to the weakness of the Greek position. Being right does not give one the right to victory.
Of course German decision makers realize the problem with a common currency without a European Financial Union but they are obviously not ready to admit it. I believe they have decided to put this issue off as it requires a long term solution to this problem and it involves more then just Greece.
I will leave the economists to debate how and when this issue can be resolved as I believe it is the ‘elephant in the room’ that will be tackled in due course and will involve all of the EU nations including Greece to be successfully solved.
For now I urge Yanis to work within SYRIZA and the Greek Government to prepare Greece for the future.
It is time for a Greek Government ‘make-over’ for the 21st century.

The time has come for Greeks to decide on what it means to be a Modern Greek and to create a modern Greek State worthy of our Hellenic past and to make real our potential in the World of the 21st century. Out of the Chaos and Dropi Greeks can find a way to unite for a brighter future and become once again the beacon of the World. The birthplace of Democracy, Philosophy, Science and the Arts will always be the heart of Europe. So let's not waste time talking about some Grexit plan that can only destroy the Greek economy for decades ahead. Germany is our partner and not our foe. We must engage them along with the rest of the EU nations in a conversation about the future of Europe as EU equals. But if Germany does not make the changes to the EU necessary to allow the Euro to be the common currency without being an economic liability for EU countries with weaker economies then a Grexit can be planned and executed to ensure the minimum of financial loss to the Greek people.

In addition I urge Mr Varoufakis and President Tsipras to not pass on a rare opportunity to bring all Greeks together to create a more efficient Government and a more productive economy, without losing the cultural essence that makes Hellenism special.
President Tsipras can bring about a Greek Renaissance by passing legislation granting Greeks of the omogenia the right to vote in Greek elections from overseas.
The best resources of Greece may lie outside its borders in our omogenia.
When we work together and make decisions based on our common cultural and philosophical Hellenic heritage Greeks can do great things!

Now is not the time for scoring political points and taking polarizing positions based on dogmatic ideology. Now is the time for Greeks wherever they may live to join together in a pragmatic, constructive and coordinated approach with the ultimate goal of making Hellas and Hellenism mean something great again - in our generation.
Oli mazi!
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Alastair Cunningham Jul 20, 2015

To the Varoufakis/Syriza detractors and their scratched record complaints about the need for 'serious people' and the Greeks' 'belligerence', you guys are drinking the ideological Kool-Aid in a big way. History will not look kindly on your side of this 'debate'. I urge you to examine the evidence for your claims more carefully.
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dan baur Jul 20, 2015

Nobody "dictated" anything - your government voted for the measures after you failed miserably in the first half of 2015.

You can't go on with the "escape velocity" nonsense when your credibility is zero. What's so hard to understand?
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Robbie Jena Jul 20, 2015

Taking over another country these days is their Privatization and Buy them out...NICE...
- Robbie Jena Jul 20, 2015
  
  We can fix Greece but need serious people there. China did it, why can not Greece?
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Momodou Dibba Jul 20, 2015

Mr Varoufakis, Frankly is this Utopia your Credible reform. Who on earth will trust you and your team to deliver?
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Stefan Tarkovacs Jul 20, 2015

Thanks for such first hand précisions. Beside your proposed plan, I was trying to add our "SeaSpace" programme which is the second leg of the only possible plan about Greece: a new industry all based on sea and providing almost needs of the country: energy, fuel, precious raw materials, clear water, sustainable model (export) of fishery, navigation (powered by our sea techno) which would have together built a new prosperity and competitivity in five years. There is no other way to restart economy than innovations going to sustainable and renewable, profitable and exportable. This what we are trying to bring. Stefan Tarkovacs
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Curtis Carpenter Jul 20, 2015

I would urge Mr. Varoufakis, who fought the good fight and is a cool guy, to get a copy of Fleetwood Mac's "Don't Stop" and listen to it daily:

"Don't stop thinking about tomorrow
Don't stop, it'll soon be here
It'll be even better than before,
Yesterday's gone, yesterday's gone"

Chancellor Merkel indicated yesterday that some Greek debt relief (rescheduling, interest adjustments) will be possible as the Greek government demonstrates its commitment to the current agreement. That's good news.

Now, Greece must adopt a Kissingerian "step by step" approach to moving forward in good faith and with real determination on the agreement. As it does so, Mr. Varoufakis can make a great contribution by keeping the rest of us informed in the months ahead. He is a voice most of us will listen to I think.

But Don't Stop Mr. Varoufakis. Yesterday's gone.
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hari naidu Jul 20, 2015

Talking about dustbin of history - you surely belong there for your professional conduct on behalf of Greece in EZ.
- Sotiris Prokopiou Jul 20, 2015
  
  true; but this man runs after the media like a surfer who found his dream wave.
  More importantly, these "strong"principles only shuttered heavy tax paying people lives and left the Government to pick-up negotiations from a dead end.
  After the poll, Tsipras could only kick his MOF out the door, both him and his domino effect prophecies.
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- Michael Public Jul 20, 2015
  
  When a man stands up for something due to strong principles, the best way to cut him down is have every newspaper simultaneously publish that he is unreasonable and thus a pariah to society. Where is the actual evidence of these alleged behaviors so I can judge for myself?
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