Europe on the Brink - Debt Crisis and Dissent in the European Periphery

Europe is suffering from a bipolar economic disorder. Financial journalists divide the continent into two groups of nations - centre and periphery - not by geography but by credit rating. Europe on the Brink is a critical investigation of the root causes of this sovereign debt crisis, and the often misguided policy choices made to resolve it. Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz, together with two other finance experts, compares debt contagion in Europe with regional financial crises elsewhere, while Roberto Lavagna, former economics minister in Argentina, provides a poignant comparative analysis with his own country’s experience. Crucially and uniquely, Portuguese, Greek and Irish economists provide hard-hitting case studies from the perspective of the periphery. This much-needed book offers a heterodox economic perspective on the causes, symptoms and solutions of the biggest economic issue currently facing Europe.

Introduction: Sovereign Bonds, Burden Sharing and the Troika’s Rescues - Tony Phillips 1. The Great Recession, Spillover in Europe, Banking Collapse in Ireland - Tony Phillips 2. Crises and Contagion: a Survey - Anzhela Knyazeva, Diana Knyazeva and Joseph Stiglitz 3. Countering the Myths of the Portuguese Debt - Mariana Rodrigues Mortágua 4. Greece: Europe’s Worst Success Story - Christina Laskaridis 5. Argentina 2001: A Heterodox Exit from the Crisis - Roberto Lavagna Epilogue - Tony Phillips Glossary