Debt in Northern countries

Tsipras and Varoufakis advance towards final capitulation

1 October 2019 - by Eric Toussaint

Adults in the Room, Costa-Gavras’s new film based on the book of the same title by former Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, will be released from 6 November in France and Belgium (see trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3aAyJKOSO0). We publish further episodes in the Éric Toussaint’s (...)
As President, Bernie Should Cancel All Student Debt

24 June 2019 - by Ben Beckett

The billions of dollars in student loan debt are an economic and moral crisis. Bernie Sanders should promise to wipe it all out. In the United States, education is supposed to be an equalizer, and higher education in particular is key to improving your life chances. At least that’s how the (...)
Can the Italian debt be repudiated?

24 June 2019 - by Cristina Quintavalla, Antonio De Lellis

Debt is not a natural disaster, nor is it the effect of excessive social expenditure: its odious nature derives from its negative consequences on the population. The Italian case. “If Salvini really wanted to fight Brussels, as he says, he would have to push for the government to stop repaying (...)
Debt is the Hidden Issue in These Elections

26 May 2019 - by UndebtedWorld

The citizens of the European Union are called to vote this week for the European Parliament. It is not a real parliament, and it lacks prospects for becoming one, since all important decisions are taken by the unelected heads of the European Commission and the European Central Bank, dubbed “the (...)
Debt is the Hidden Issue in These Elections

21 May 2019 - by UndebtedWorld

The citizens of the European Union are called to vote this week for the European Parliament. It is not a real parliament, and it lacks prospects for becoming one, since all important decisions are taken by the unelected heads of the European Commission and the European Central Bank, dubbed “the (...)
In February 1953 the allied powers cancelled part of Germany’s debt. What about Greece?

24 February 2019 - by Eric Toussaint, Hervé Nathan

The following interview of Eric Toussaint by the French weekly Marianne was first published in February 2015. It remains just as relevant in 2019 on the anniversary of the London Agreement on German External Debts of 27 February 1953 which enabled Germany to benefit from the cancellation of (...)
The Challenges for the European Left regarding Debt and the Banks

23 January 2019 - by Eric Toussaint

Second part of the interview given to LVSL. Here, the first part “Break the Taboo on Odious Debts and their Repudiation”. LVSL – If we look at the case of Greece in 2015, we see that there was a change of regime when Syriza and Alexis Tsipras came to power, with strong popular support. And yet (...)
Thomas Piketty and public debt

14 January 2019 - by Eric Toussaint

Thomas Piketty recently published an opinion in the newspaper Le Monde, “1789-2019, the return of debt”, (in french) which deserves to be read. We republish an article by Éric Toussaint on the positions of Thomas Piketty and that of CADTM on public debt. This text remains largely relevant (...)
Greece still under the yoke of its illegitimate debt

20 July 2018 - by Anouk Renaud

On Friday 22 June 2018, after night-long negotiations, the Eurogroup (meeting of the finance ministers of the eurozone, along with representatives of the IMF and the ECB) announced with great fanfare / pomp and circumstances, a new agreement concerning Greece. It is supposed to be a “historic” (...)
As Japan’s workers are facing increasing economic difficulties, Student Debt is still a major concern in the country

11 April 2018 - by Tsutomu Teramoto

The seventh CADTM South Asia regional workshop was successfully held in Colombo (Sri Lanka) from April 6 to April 8, 2018, with participants coming from Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Japan, Belgium and France. Around forty delegates, most of them being representatives of social (...)
Shocking report: Macroeconomic indicators improve but Greece’s society is suffering

9 February 2018 - by Confédération hellénique des cadres, artisans et marchands

Greek society in economic decline: Three out of four are long-time unemployed. 51% of the households depends on pensions. One in five households is afraid to lose its home. 70% of the young Greeks want to look for a work abroad. 16.3% say they cannot afford to cover an extraordinary expense of (...)
The Varoufakis-Tsipras Line was Doomed to Fail from the Word ‘Go’

5 February 2018 - by Eric Toussaint

Disclaimer: This series of articles on Varoufakis’s book, Adults in The Room: My Battle With Europe’s Deep Establishment is a guide for left-leaning readers who are not happy with the dominant narrative meted out by the mainstream media and the Troika-controlled governments. This is also a guide (...)
An Agenda for Europe: The struggle for the solution of the debt and the Euro

22 December 2017 - by Francisco Louça

In this brief text I reflect on the international context and the European crisis on the basis of the experience of Portugal under the Troika and the political change that has happened since then. The first part presents a map for 2016, the second deals with Europe, the struggle for the (...)
10 key facts about debt in the UK

15 November 2017 - by Jubilee Debt Campaign, Tim Jones

The UK government is paying virtually the lowest amount of interest on its debt in recorded history, as a proportion of GDP. Of the payments it is making, most are to people and institutions in the UK, with just 25% of UK government debt owed outside the country. In contrast, 24% of the UK (...)
From Geneva to Belgrade: The Great Question of Public Debt

23 October 2017 - by Nathan Legrand

The CADTM was invited to speak at the “Debt Conference” held in Geneva on 5 October, and also participated in activities in Belgrade on 6 and 7 October. Our programme was highly charged and proved most valuable. Geneva, 5 October : « Debt Conference » The second “Interdisciplinary Sovereign Debt (...)
How Tsípras, with Varoufakis’s aid, turned his back on Syriza’s platform

18 September 2017 - by Eric Toussaint

Yanis Varoufakis traces his collaboration with Alexis Tsípras and his alter ego, Nikos Pappas, back to 2011. That collaboration gradually broadened, starting with 2013, to include Yanis Dragasakis (who became vice-Prime Minister in 2015). There is a constant in the relations between Varoufakis (...)
Varoufakis’s questionable account of the origins of the Greek crisis and his surprising relations with the political class

1 September 2017 - by Eric Toussaint

In his latest book Adults in the Room, Yanis Varoufakis gives us his version of the reasons behind the Tsipras government’s shameful capitulation in July 2015. It essentially analyses the period 2009-2015, though it makes incursions into earlier periods. In my first article on the subject of (...)
Yanis Varoufakis’s Account of the Greek Crisis: a Self-Incrimination — Part One: Proposals Doomed to Fail

24 August 2017 - by Eric Toussaint

In his latest book, Adults in the Room (https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/may/15/adults-in-room-battle-europes-deep-establishment-yanis-varoufakis-review), Yanis Varoufakis gives us his version of the events that led to the Tsipras government’s shameful capitulation in July 2015. It (...)
Back to the Future of Austerity and Debtocracy!

15 May 2017 - by Leonidas Vatikiotis

The SYRIZA-ANEL made a deal with the creditors, signed in May 2, that was met with a great deal of enthusiasm from the markets. It is an agreement that will increase poverty and over-indebtedness, and will deal a blow to the country’s sovereign rights. The staff level agreement which will be (...)
On The Odiousness of Greek Debt

24 April 2017 - by Renaud Vivien, Ilias Bantekas

Abstract Unlike the popular narrative, which suggests that the Greek debt crisis was the result of lavish spending, this article demonstrates that the ‘crisis’ was generated by a transformation of purely private debt into public debt. This finding is supported by the preliminary report of the (...)
Greece: The PSI and the process of bank recapitalization (2012-2016)

24 January 2017 - by Daniel Munevar

This section analyzes the impact of the debt restructuring of 2012 on Greek banks and the measures taken to ensure their proper recapitalization. It describes the role of the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund (HFSF) in this process and the problems derived from the composition of its governing (...)
Secret IMF Documents on Greece commented by Eric Toussaint (CADTM)

16 January 2017 - by Eric Toussaint

The CADTM draws attention to two IMF documents dating from March and May 2010 that were kept secret. These authentic documents were placed at the disposal of the Truth Committee on Greek Public Debt by Zoe Konstantopoulou, the President of the Hellenic Parliament in office from 6 February to 3 (...)
Some home truths about banks, pensions and Greek debt

10 January 2017 - by Anouk Renaud

On the 5th, 6th and 7th of November, the Truth Committee on Greek Public Debt met again in Athens to carry on its investigation. After studying the Greek public debt and in particular the Troika’s loan in 2010, the Committee enquired into the functioning of the Greek banking system, which is (...)
Four reasons why Greece should not have paid the IMF

14 December 2016 - by CADTM International

On 7 December 2016 Greece remitted €299 million to the IMF. This sum corresponds to a part of the “bail-out” that was granted in 2010 and is all at the same time illegal, illegitimate, odious and unsustainable. To start with, only 5% of the sums granted in 2010 and 2012 were effectively entered (...)
Why Greek pension [counter]reforms are not sustainable

30 November 2016 - by Michel Husson

The Greek pension system has undergone many reforms since the beginning of the crisis, and the latest was extensively negotiated with the creditors. Rather than outlining the details of these reforms, the aim of this document is to highlight the specificities of the Greek pension system, in (...)