Many in Europe (especially in Southern Europe) think that a lot of German workers live from a minijob of 450 euros per month. In this op-ed in El País (English version) my German colleagues Lars Feld and Benjamin Weigert and I explain that it is not quite like that. Minijobs might not be the best solution to reduce the inequality produced by globalisation, but it is certainly a better framework than the massive unemployment and precarious work that can be found in Southern Europe.
Germany
Berlín no cederá hasta que caiga París
En su más reciente entrevista a Claudi Pérez de El País, el ex-ministro de finanzas de Grecia, Yanis Varoufakis, dice que la estrategia final de Schäuble es hacer que París acepte la necesidad de ceder más soberanía para construir la unión fiscal y política necesarias para hacer del euro una moneda sostenible en el tiempo. Si Grexit es el sacrificio que hay que hacer para conseguirlo, que así sea. Ya se sabe, el fin justifica los medios…
Esto me hizo recordar que hace tres años escribí en Expansión una columna titulada: Berlín no cederá hasta que caiga París. Parece que la estrategia alemana no ha cambiado mucho desde entonces. Lo que sí que no contemplaba por aquel entonces es que Draghi saliese en Julio de 2012 diciendo que haría todo lo que haga falta para salvar el euro. Eso, el OMT y QE han hecho que Berlín no pueda contar con los mercados para ejercer presión sobre Francia. Quizás es por eso que Schäuble se ha sacado la carta de Grexit de la manga. Está claro que la construcción de una unión política nunca es un camino de rosas…
Schäuble has killed off the Grexit fairytale
After the 11-12 July Greek-End Schäuble has been harshly criticised for putting the possibility of a temporary Grexit on the negotiating table of the Eurogroup. In this piece, published in the LSE EUROPP Blog, I develop a counter-factual argument. I argue that intentionally or otherwise, with his strategy Schäuble has finally killed off the Grexit fairytale told so many times by Krugman, Stiglitz, Sinn, O’Rourke et al. The piece has had quite a success. On the last account it had been shared more than 1.200 times via twitter or Facebook.
How to Avoid a Grexit
Greece has agreed to negotiate a third rescue package with the rest of the Eurozone. This one should focus more on structural reforms than cuts. However, one of the problems in the past was that Greece passed many structural reforms into law but it has not implemented them. To avoid the same mistake and keep Greece in the Eurozone my colleague Federico Steinberg and I propose to create a Euro-Greek Reform Commission. The idea has drawn quite a lot of interest. It was first published in Spain in El País, then in Germany in the Berlin Policy Journal and Handelsblatt and finally in Greece in Kathimerini.
