Search

Open letter: EU leaders’ chance to create good history

All Topics
Authors
Search author

30/06/2015

Published in Financial Times (29th June, 2015)

Sir, We call on European leaders to avoid creating bad history!

Enable Greece to pay the €1.6bn payment to the IMF on June 30. Allow a debt swap with ECB bonds coming due in July and August in exchange for bonds from the bailout fund, with longer maturities and lower interest rates reflecting the lower borrowing costs of the creditors. Then make a fresh start, bearing in mind, first, that the contractionary austerity policy demanded of Greece has been discredited by the IMF’s own research department; and second, that Syriza’s leaders are committed to undertaking far-reaching reforms in the Greek state — if they can get the latitude to do so. 

Prof Joseph Stiglitz Columbia University; Nobel Prize winner of Economics

Prof Thomas Piketty Paris School of Economics

Massimo D’Alema Former Prime Minister of Italy; president of FEPS (Foundation of European Progressive Studies)

Prof Mary Kaldor London School of Economics 

Prof Stephany Griffith-Jones IPD Columbia University

Prof Inge Kaul Hertie School of Governance

Hilary Wainwright Transnational Institute, Amsterdam

Michael Burke Economists Against Austerity

Prof Panicos Demetriades University of Leicester; ex-Governor of the Central Bank of Cyprus and former member of the ECB Governing Council

Prof Gustav Horn University of Duisburg-Essen

Prof James Galbraith University of Texas at Austin

Prof Marcus Miller Warwick University

Prof Jose Antonio Ocampo Columbia University

Prof Avinash Persaud Peterson Institute for International Economics

Prof James Putzel London School of Economics

Prof Helmut Reisen German Development Institute

Dr Ernst Stetter Secretary General, FEPS (Foundation of European Progressive Studies)

Prof Frances Stewart University of Oxford

Prof Robert Wade London School of Economics

Download the PDF

Find all related publications
Publications
See all
20/06/2024
Policy Study

Responsibility-sharing or shifting?

New Pact Implementation series
17/06/2024
Policy Study

Separation or divorce? The popular class and social democracy in Poland

13/06/2024
Policy Study

The Crisis and Force Majeure Regulation: Towards future-proof crisis management and responses?

New Pact Implementation series
12/06/2024
Book

A Digital Union based on European values

FEPS Primer series - Ivana Bartoletti
Find all related news
News
See all
27/06/2024

Join Tax the EU Billionaires Day!

25/06/2024

The EUROPAEUM delegation visits FEPS

20/06/2024

FEPS celebrates its annual General Assembly and welcomes new members

05/06/2024

FEPS represented at T20 Brasil International Advisory Council

Find all related in the media
In the media
See all

Falsely historic European elections bring little change, says FEPS

by Agence Europe 18/06/2024
Agence Europe's article features an analysis of the EU election results by Ania Skrzypek, FEPS Director for Research and Training, published in The Progressive Post.

Die EU-Osterweiterung nach 20 Jahren: Kann die Konvergenz sozial und wirtschaftlich nachhaltig gestaltet werden?

by Wirtschaftsdienst 13/06/2024
'EU Eastward Enlargement After 20 Years: Socially and Economically Sustainable Convergence?' FEPS Secretary General László Andor co-authored this article of the German journal Wirtschaftsdienst

Flere har en computer som chef: »Det dræber al gejst og motivation«

by Finans 12/06/2024
'Several people have a computer as their boss: "It kills all spirit and motivation" Finans article features FEPS latest policy study and survey 'Computer in command'

Un comisario de democracia para Europa

by Confidencial 11/06/2024
"A Democracy Commissioner for Europe". FEPS President Maria João Rodrigues co-authors this article, advocating for the establishment of a Democracy Commissioner.