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2012-05-16
G8 Summit: President Obama To Press Chancellor Merkel On Euro-Zone Growth Package

Water Policy Needs 'Radical' Change To Protect People And Environment

U.S. Nuclear Weapons Upgrades - Experts Report Massive Costs Increase

Discussion: Greek Politicians Debate Election Disaster - 'If We Leave The Euro, Everything Will Be Worse'

Practiced Civility - Politesse Trumps Policy As Hollande Meets Merkel

Aftermath Of An Election Debacle - Merkel Fires Environment Minister Rottgen

In U.S.: Georgia Police Escort School Buses After Rifle Threat

Disses And Death Threats - Rapper In Germany Fears For Life After Fatwa

Ratko Mladic Goes On Trial For Bosnia War Crimes

2012-05-15
U.S. Justice Dept. Opens Investigation Into JP Morgan's $2 Billion Trading Losses

Conflict With Far-Right Party - Young German Muslims Defend Right To Protest

Rebekah Brooks Defiant Over Charges Relating To Phone-Hacking 'Cover-Up'

Delayed Indefinitely - Unraveling Berlin's New Airport Debacle

New Elections In June - Markets Fall As Greek Talks Collapse

News Analysis: Standing Firm - Germany's Merkel Won't Budge On Austerity Despite Setback

Better Than Expected - German GDP Surges As Euro-Zone Split Widens

Former Mexican Official Pleads Guilty To Aiding Cartel

Panel Calls For Steep Cuts In U.S. Nuclear Weapons

Checking The Vaults - Germans Fret About Their Foreign Gold Reserves

French President Inaugurated - Hollande Under Pressure To Score Quick Victories

Report: Resources Being Stripped Faster Than Planet Can Renew Them

2012-05-14
North Dakota Oil Boom: Thousands Pin Their Dreams On Striking It Rich

Time To Admit Defeat - Greece Can No Longer Delay Euro Zone Exit

E.U.: Israel Putting Any Two-State Peace Deal At Risk

JP Morgan Investment Boss Ina Drew Quits Over Bank's $2 Billion Investment Losses

Commentary: 'It's Going To Get Harder For Merkel'

Couples Therapy - Germany's Merkel And France's Hollande Are Damned To Get Along

Gulf Unity On Hold Amid Iranian Warning

News Analysis: Merkel's Defeat - Germany's Social Democrats Return To Relevancy

Champagne Before Crash - Pilot Bravado May Be To Blame For Russian Superjet Disaster


Interview With Top German Economist Hans-Werner Sinn: 'Restructuring Greece Within The Euro Is Illusory'
2012-02-22 18:15:43 (12 weeks ago)
Posted By: Intellpuke
Background: President of Munich's prestigious Institute for Economic Research (ifo) since 1999, Hans-Werner Sinn, 63, is also the author of a controversial book on German budget reform, "Can Germany Be Saved?"

Europe's finance ministers plan to approve a second bailout for Greece on Monday but Hans-Werner Sinn, the head of Ifo, a top German economic think tank, warns that the money will only help international banks -- not the Greeks. He argues that Greece can only solve its crisis if it quits the euro.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: The finance ministers of the euro zone want to approve a new bailout for Greece this Monday. Can the additional €130 billion ($172 billion) save Greece?

Sinn: No, and the politicians know it can't. They want to gain time until the next election. I think we're wasting time by doing this.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Why?

Sinn: Because Greece's external debt is rising with every year that passes until it leaves the currency union. We're getting ever further away from solving the problem. The basic problem is that Greece isn't competitive. The cheap loans that the euro brought the country artificially raised prices and wages -- and the country has to come back down from this high level.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: So the euro countries shouldn't approve the aid?

Sinn: They should give them the money to ease their exit from the currency union. The Greek government could use the money to nationalize the country's banks and prevent the state from collapsing. The state and the banks must continue to function through all the turmoil that an exit will entail.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: This turmoil would hit the population hard.

Sinn: Yes, undeniably. But the turmoil would only be temporary, it would last one to two years perhaps. This time would have to be bridged with the financial aid from the international community. But the drachma will immediately depreciate and the situation will stabilize very quickly. After a short thunderstorm, the sun will shine again.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: How would a euro exit help Greece in concrete terms?

(story continues below)




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