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Nobel winner: Germany's the problem, not Greece
cnbc ^ | 1-26-2015

Posted on 01/26/2015 10:47:29 AM PST by Citizen Zed

Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz told CNBC on Monday that the euro zone should stay together but if it breaks apart, it would be better for Germany to leave than for Greece.

"While it was an experiment to bring them together, nothing has divided Europe as much as the euro," Stiglitz said in a " Squawk Box " interview.

The risk of a sovereign default in Greece has increased after the anti-austerity party Syriza won Sunday's snap elections, raising concerns over the possibility of a Greek exit from the euro zone.

Greece is not the only economy struggling under the euro, and that's why a new approach is needed, Stiglitz said. "The policies that Europe has foisted on Greece just have not worked and that's true of Spain and other countries."

The Columbia University professor is one of 18 prominent economists who co-authored a letter saying that Europe would benefit from giving Greece a fresh start through debt reduction and a further conditional extension in the grace period. But in the letter in the Financial Times last week, they stressed that Greece would also have to carry out reforms.

"Greece made a few mistakes ... but Europe made even bigger mistakes," Stiglitz told CNBC. "The medicine they gave was poisonous. It led the debt to grow up and the economy to go down."

"If Greece leaves, I think Greece will actually do better. ... There will be a period of adjustment.

(Excerpt) Read more at mob.cnbc.com ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat
KEYWORDS: alexistsipras; europeanunion; germany; greece; josephstiglitz; syriza
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Greece is the word.
1 posted on 01/26/2015 10:47:29 AM PST by Citizen Zed
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To: Citizen Zed
Some past Nobel Prize winners:

Paul Krugman - Economics
Yassar Arafat - Peace
Barack Obama - Peace

Enough said

2 posted on 01/26/2015 10:50:01 AM PST by Michael.SF. (It takes a gun to feed a village (and an AK 47 to defend it).)
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To: Michael.SF.

Oh, and Peanut Boy: Jimmah Carter


3 posted on 01/26/2015 10:50:58 AM PST by Michael.SF. (It takes a gun to feed a village (and an AK 47 to defend it).)
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To: Citizen Zed

How dare Germany have the audacity to want it’s loan paid back.


4 posted on 01/26/2015 10:52:02 AM PST by DoodleDawg
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To: Citizen Zed

He is in the Krugman mold, an Ivy League, Nobel winning fool who thinks Europe should have more France and less Germany. His ideas are the reason Europe is trapped in slow to no growth and high unemployment.


5 posted on 01/26/2015 10:56:50 AM PST by colorado tanker
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To: Citizen Zed

Some background on Stiglitz:

http://inglouriousbasterds.wikia.com/wiki/Hugo_Stiglitz


6 posted on 01/26/2015 10:57:05 AM PST by headstamp 2
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To: Citizen Zed

Germany has considered it. I never did find out whether those stacks of newly printed Deutschmarks that were rumored to have been stashed in the Bundesbank cellar were real. However, in this particular case, someone has to provide the money that Greece is still spending in deficit to run its government and its social programs. A chart I saw on FR yesterday suggests that they’ve slashed spending by 25%, which is a great start, but (1) they still need to borrow the overage, because (2) they can’t just print the drachma to cover it like the U.S. can with dollars. Stiffing your biggest creditor is probably not very conducive to future loans from anyone, much less that creditor, and that creditor leaving the Eurozone is worse. The money has to come from somewhere.


7 posted on 01/26/2015 11:01:36 AM PST by Billthedrill
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To: Citizen Zed
Greece is not the only economy struggling under the euro, and that's why a new approach is needed, Stiglitz said. "The policies that Europe has foisted on Greece just have not worked and that's true of Spain and other countries."

It is only Germany's fault because they let Greece and the other problem countries stay on the dole so long. Right now Europe has the choice for the euro to be the old German mark or the old Italian lira. This author is arguing for the lira.

8 posted on 01/26/2015 11:06:23 AM PST by KarlInOhio (Darth Obama on 529 plans: I am altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further.)
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To: Billthedrill

Redistribute! /s


9 posted on 01/26/2015 11:07:01 AM PST by gasport (Immigration reform means arriving in air-conditioned comfort.)
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To: Citizen Zed

Same problem they’ve had since the creation of the Euro. Germans need to work until they’re 70 so that Greeks can retire at 50.


10 posted on 01/26/2015 11:09:36 AM PST by Pan_Yan
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To: colorado tanker

He is half right in this case. His economics are right in that being pegged to Germany has ruined Greece’s economy and Germany sold them a false bill of goods; however, they still signed up even after most non-political economists forecasted this.


11 posted on 01/26/2015 11:09:50 AM PST by wolfman23601
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To: Citizen Zed

The Euro shouldn’t exist. Greece shouldn’t have been in the Euro. Once in the Euro, it should never have been allowed to borrow at near German rates for 7 years running. Once Greece borrowed too much, it should never have been given more.

You see, the whole EU system is a failed social-engineering project dreamed-up by EU socialist elites. One bad decision has engendered an endless chain of errors, each trying to cover for the last. Now its up to the ECB, that other massive statist social-engineering tool, to begin printing money and stealing from savers and producers to bail out Brussels endless folly.


12 posted on 01/26/2015 11:12:03 AM PST by PGR88
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To: Billthedrill

Germany will not abandon it. Countries like Greece weaken the currency and bolster Germany’s exports. With Germany being a mercantilist state, the occasional bailout is a very small price to pay. They have also started to get sovereignty out of the deals and are creating puppets governments in places like Italy.


13 posted on 01/26/2015 11:12:46 AM PST by wolfman23601
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To: Citizen Zed

Sorry, but associating the word “Nobel” with anything honorable (except for physics and the other real sciences) pretty much destroys an argument.

Appropriate examples were provided above my comments.

And remember, if you want to totally annihilate an opponent, just yell “Krugman, Krugman, Krugman”.


14 posted on 01/26/2015 11:13:53 AM PST by Da Coyote
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To: Citizen Zed
Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz

I prefer his brother, Hugo....


15 posted on 01/26/2015 11:14:44 AM PST by dfwgator
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To: Michael.SF.

Some past Nobel Prize winners:
Paul Krugman - Economics
Yassar Arafat - Peace
Barack Obama - Peace

Enough said
.............

Oh, and Peanut Boy: Jimmah Carter
**************************************************************************************
And don’t forget the brilliant scientist Al Gore.


16 posted on 01/26/2015 11:15:59 AM PST by House Atreides (CRUZ or lose!)
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To: Pan_Yan
Same problem they’ve had since the creation of the Euro. Germans need to work until they’re 70 so that Greeks can retire at 50.

Not sure that anyone could come up with a better and more concise summation of the problem!!!
17 posted on 01/26/2015 11:19:15 AM PST by Jan_Sobieski (Sanctification)
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To: House Atreides

Sounds like you have the start of a new thread on FR titled, “Those Who Received The Nobel Prize But Should Not Have.”


18 posted on 01/26/2015 11:22:41 AM PST by Jack Hydrazine (Pubbies = national collectivists; Dems = international collectivists; We need a second party!)
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To: Citizen Zed
Mr.

can stick it where the sun don't shine!
19 posted on 01/26/2015 11:31:05 AM PST by Jack Hydrazine (Pubbies = national collectivists; Dems = international collectivists; We need a second party!)
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To: Citizen Zed

The new Greek Government has their first meeting......

“Well, we can try to figure out how to make and sell stuff that the rest of the world wants......orrrrrrrr......we can get drunk and start paying people with rocks. Which is it?”

“Opa! Opa! Opa!”


20 posted on 01/26/2015 11:31:49 AM PST by blueunicorn6 ("A crack shot and a good dancer")
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