‘END AUSTERITY BEFORE IT ENDS DEMOCRACY’ Report by Jon Danzig “We must end austerity so as not to let fear kill democracy,” wrote Alexis Tsipras, leader of Syriza, the Greek opposition party, in today’s Financial Times. He added, “Unless the forces of progress change Europe, Marine le Pen and the far-right will change it for us.” And, said Mr Tsipras, whose party is predicted to win in this weekend’s General Election: “Austerity has failed in Greece. It crippled the economy and left a large part of the workforce unemployed.” Mr Tsipras set out his plan to end austerity in Greece, whilst honouring his country’s obligations. “Let me clear up a misperception,” he wrote. “Balancing the government’s budget does not automatically require austerity. A Syriza government will respect Greece’s obligation, as a eurozone member, to maintain a balanced budget, and will commit to quantitative targets.” “We expect the European Central Bank itself to launch a full-blooded programme of quantitative easing. This is long overdue. It should be on a scale great enough to heal the eurozone and to give meaning to the phrase “whatever it takes” to save the single currency.” Mr Tsipras recalled the 1953 London Conference that helped Germany achieve its postwar economic boom by relieving the country of the burden of its own past errors. Commented Mr Tsipras, “Since austerity has caused over-indebtedness throughout Europe, we now call for a European debt conference, which will likewise give a strong boost to growth in Europe. This is not an exercise in creating moral hazard. It is a moral duty.” Read more in the Financial Times (registration/log in may be required) ft/cms/s/0/da236d24-9ff9-11e4-9a74-00144feab7de.html
Posted on: Tue, 20 Jan 2015 22:50:43 +0000