Archive of Heiner Flassbeck
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What to do in Europe? Proposals from the Left
The second Ιnternational Conference of EReNSEP (The European Research Network on Social and Economic Policy), "France and Europe after Brexit", was held in Paris December 2-3, 2016. Videos from the event — including presentations by Costas Lapavitsas, Heiner Flassbeck, Stathis Kouvelakis, and Cédric Durand — are available on YouTube.
The collective statement below was drafted following the conference, and signed by 25 academics, writers, and politicians.
via Wikimedia Commons.
These are critical moments for Europe. It is clear that the Economic and Monetary Union has irrevocably failed, the economies of the periphery of Europe remain in severe crisis, and the economies of the core lack any impetus. The single currency has become a tool for Germany to implement mercantilism through wage dumping and — with the support of other core economies of the EMU — to dictate “structural reforms," which create economic stagnation, poverty, and unemployment. The big corporations and promoters of neoliberalism are taking advantage of the crisis to intensify their offensive against the social and democratic conquests of the twentieth century. -
Three Objectives for the Left in Europe
25 researchers and political organisers from France, Greece, Spain, Germany, Italy and Belgium have put their names to this collective text, following the international conference France and Europe after Brexit. The conference was staged in Paris on 2 and 3 December 2016 by the Europe-wide EReNSEP network. Translated by David Broder.
Europe has entered a critical period. It is evident that the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) has irrevocably failed. The economies on the periphery are suffering severe crisis, and the economies of the centre are stagnating. The single currency has become an instrument of German capitalism as it seeks to impose a mercantilist economic policy through wage dumping as well as to dictate "structural reforms" (and it is supported, in this, by the other economies at the centre of the EMU). -
"Germany caused the crisis, Germany must solve it"
As the rift in Syriza deepens and Tsipras continues to struggle to confirm a deal, we share two talks from the economists behind Against the Troika: Crisis and Austerity in the Eurozone, who have long been proposing a strategic exit from the euro for its peripheral countries, as well as an interview with Stathis Kouvelakis, leading member of Syriza's Left Platform.
Heiner Flassbeck, 'Germany caused the crisis, Germany must solve it', July 7, 2015.
Flassbeck, former director of UNCTAD, says German economic policy put Greece into the crisis and progressive Germans must stop the irrational bleeding of the Greek people. Watch the original interview here.
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Greece: A Reading List
On 25 January 2015, Syriza, the radical Left coalition lead by Alexis Tsipras, won a historic election victory winning just two seats shy of an absolute majority in the Greek parliament. As Etienne Balibar observed at the time:
“This is the first time that any popular force has proven able to pose a challenge to the ‘governance’ that has dominated Europe ever since the ‘neoliberal’ turn. This rupture is taking place in a ‘small country’, but the Greek experience has its echoes everywhere."
The election was won on the back of a campaign that promised to renegotiate the terms of the country's bailout by the European Union, in stark contrast to Northern European ideology of austerity. Syriza's election win sent shockwaves throughout the international money markets, with the European Central Bank implementing credit controls on Greek banks, restricting its cash flows and making prohibitively expensive for those banks to access capital. After months of negotiations between Greece and its creditors, there has been an impasse, with Germany and its Northern European aliies unyielding despite extensive concessions given by Syriza on the conditions of its €8bn austerity package.
On 27 June, Tsipras called a referendum to decide whether or not to accept the bailout conditions given by the EU. It is a gutsy decision that took much of the world by surprise. A 'No' vote would galvanise Syriza and give it a public mandate to bolster its position against the country's creditors, whereas having its own subjects voting 'Yes' to extensive cuts would deliver perhaps the punishing final blow to any credible alternative to austerity in the Eurozone.
With this in mind, we bring you an essential reading list that aims charts the trajectory of Syriza from its origins as a loose coalition on the fringes of Greek politics to being the only credible party on the European Left that is openly fighting back against the violent ideology of austerity.
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Letter of support for Greece
Signed by Etienne Balibar, Costas Douzinas, Barbara Spinelli, Rowan Williams, Immanuel Wallerstein, Slavoj Zizek, Michael Mansfield, Judith Butler, Chantal Mouffe, Homi Bhabha, Wendy Brown, Eric Fassin, and Tariq Ali.