Vicky Pryce reflects on the current crisis in the Euro Zone - its causes and how Europe has responded, and offers her thoughts on what might and what needs to happen if the Euro is to survive in its current form.
This general read on the Euro crisis focuses on the role of Greece and the crisis' impact on Greece, economically, politically and socially. The book is detailed but provides few new insights. Most notable is the section on What Is Next For Greece? Followed by What Is Next For the Euro? Broad measures are mentioned to resolve the situation but the author does not give specifics - how much Greek debt needs to be waived for it to be manageable or how banking reform will have an impact on Greece meeting debt service obligations in the short term. The writing is lazy and could have been more detailed in parts eg French banks' exposure to Greece was enormous (however no € or % overall bank exposure provided). The author's assessment that Greece did not cause the crisis - the structural flaws of the euro and EU did - yet was impacted disproportionately is accurate and a message that gets forgotten.
An enjoyable book written by a top economist that explains where the Greek economic crisis came from within the wider context of the Euro/EU.
Pryce argues forcefully that the entire Euro project was ill conceived from the start from an economics perspective, and that something like what has happened in recent years (with Ireland, Iceland, Greece, and now Italy and Spain) was inevitable because necessary economic policies were never pushed through.
Allahu mencabar betul nak habiskan bila masuk bab fasal hubungkait German, Perancis dan Britain. Pentas politik depa sama macam Malaysia. Bebal ahli politiknya lebih kurang sama je. Latar masa pun sama. Tahun 2004 Greece tukar mata wang depa ke Euro sebaris dengan 19 negara lagi yang menyertai Euro. Tapi sistem depa tak ready, orang depa pun tak ready, last-last melingkup. So si mamat Vicky Pryce ni ceritakan keadaan ekonomi yang berlaku di Greece.
This was quite easy to read, without too many technical economics terms. But some of the theory was a bit repetitive. I liked the chapters about the historic context of the EU in particular.