[MGSA-L] Two items on Greek Debt

[DANIEL P. Tompkins]

A friend has politely pointed me to Alexis Rappas' Cyprus in the '30s
<https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Go61AwAAQBAJ&dq=michael+given+ronald+storrs&source=gbs_navlinks_s>
(2014),
which paints a darker picture  of Ronald Storrs than I gave, and also
criticizes at least one British anthropologist.   but of Michael Given.
Sobering.  I suppose I should have learned that when British colonial
administrators sound charming, they may have motives.

Rappas also notes that colonial administrators' rants against misguided
leadership in London are a cliché of colonial literature, often
self-promoting, possibly sometimes true.  A worthwhile reminder.  Without
claiming expertise on this, I can say that Storrs is a fine writer and at
least some of the time seems to show good judgment.  But it's always good
to be warned.

Best,

Dan

On Sat, Feb 7, 2015 at 4:38 PM, DANIEL P. Tompkins <pericles at temple.edu>
wrote:

> The quality and volume of commentary on the debt -- Krugman,
> <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/06/opinion/a-game-of-chicken.html>
> Skidelsky
> <http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/oct/21/morality-debt-disputes>,
> Stiglitz
> <http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2015/02/06/2113951/michael-pettis-explains-the-euro-crisis-and-a-lot-of-other-things-too/>
> , Pettis
> <http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2015/02/06/2113951/michael-pettis-explains-the-euro-crisis-and-a-lot-of-other-things-too/> (very
> worthwhile).  It's amazing how many smart people are urging the authorities
> to rethink an approach that provides little stimulus to the Greek economy
> and may endanger the rest of Europe.
>
> To that, I can add one item that may be useful to some list members:  an
> inventory of major statements on Greek recover efforts in recent years.  I
> asked a professional economist friend in Athens to send me something, and
> he put this together.  I hear regularly from people who insist that Greece
> has done "nothing" and needs to be disciplined:  the list (below) provides
> ammo for responding.
>
> Second, I realized this morning that many Americans unreflectively  buy
> into  the northern European language of virtue and purity: every debtor
> must pay what he or she owes, that's honorable, etc.
>
> Which is fine up to a point.  But buying it can mean ignoring the ways in
> which debt has historically used as a tool of control, plunder, and
> predation. Examples abound:  for Americans, most likely the protests of
> Heartland farmers against banks and railroads that controlled mortgages and
> freight fees.  Perhaps the bankers in Boston and NY were virtuous and
> benign, but equally perhaps, they knew how to make a buck.
>
> It's easy to go in several directions at once on this, but below, I focus
> on earlier Greek experience with debt, which was especially awful in the
> regular periods when the olive harvest failed.  Very likely many of our
> Greek - American listmembers and friends had knowledge of this sort of
> thing.
>
> Start, though, with *Orientations*, the memoirs of Sir Ronald Storrs
> <http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/magazine/discerning-conqueror-1.324306>,
> friend of Lawrence of Arabia, who served as governor of Jerusalem during
> the riots of the early '20s, then of Cyprus around 1930, and was quite
> critical of the whole colonial administration set up.  He mentions British
> connivance in maintaining the Ottoman debt on Cyprus, a precursor (in only
> some ways) to today's imbroglio.  The "Ottoman debt" that enabled Great
> Britain to extort great sums from the island,  was calculated, he says,
> with the "scrupulous exactitude characteristic of faked accounts" at the
> sum of  L92,799, 11s. 3d p/a.  One of my favorite quotes.
>
> He also sums up the stupidity of British colonial administrators in
> looking down on colonials with a quote from Gide, "Moins le blanc
> est intelligent, plus il méprise les noires."  ("The stupider a white man
> is, the more he hates the blacks.")
>
> Now:  Paul Halstead's archaeological work (like that of Mike Jameson, whom
> he cites) has helped many understand the continuities and differences
> between ancient and modern Greek agriculture.  The passage below comes to
> mind right now.  It raises the question: when is enforcing debt payment
> (foreclosure, in the old westerns -- and recall that the US populists hated
> bankers for this very reason) -- when is enforcing debt a "virtuous"
> activity expected of all decent people, and when is it an instrument of
> predation and plunder?  Put it differently, who would *not *put the
> screws to weaker folks, to extract some power or some cash?
>
> Here's Halstead (and Glynis Jones).  Classical content, indeed:
>
> "Agrarian Ecology in the Greek Islands: Time Stress, Scale and Risk"
>
> Paul Halstead and Glynis Jones
>
> The Journal of Hellenic Studies 109 (1989), 41-55
>
>  [On Greek islands, later 20th c.]
>
> ... farmers in need might work for their richer neighbours, helping to build
> a barn or assisting in tasks such as reaping and ploughing, in return for
> grain. Exchanges between farmers and shepherds are also recalled. Only as a
> last resort would farmers seek to buy grain on the market, working in
> Athens or Rhodes to earn the necessary cash. On Amorgos, needy farmers have
> in living memory sometimes bought grain from other farmers: ...  In more
> desperate situations, *farmers start selling off their fields (and even
> their children
> <http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DastardlyWhiplash>*)*, so
> offering more fortunate farmers the opportunity to convert money to the
> more stable and profitable form of land. The last resort of the failed
> farmer is to abandon the land altogether, and recent emigration has been
> particularly prevalent among poor farmers with too little land to be
> economically viable. Those who have stayed behind, *expanding their
> holdings by buying land from emigrés*, have tended to be *farmers of
> moderate wealth*.
>
>
>
> Also worth a look: Albert Camus' riveting dispatches on the failure of the
> olive harvest in the Algerian Kabyle, and subsequent starvation and
> suffering:
>
>
> http://www.histoire.presse.fr/actualite/infos/albert-camus-misere-kabylie-in-alger-republicain-1939-22-11-2010-16441
>
>
> http://www.amazon.co.uk/Chroniques-Algeriennes-1939-1958-Folio-Essais/dp/2070422720/ref=sr_1_fkmr2_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1423325722&sr=1-1-fkmr2&keywords=chroniques+d%27alg%C3%A9rie+camus
>
> In English (good translation that nevertheless loses a lot):
>
> http://www.amazon.co.uk/Algerian-Chronicles-Albert-Camus/dp/0674072588
>
>
> *Source:  Michael Jameson, 'Famine in the Greek in P. D. A. Garnsey and C.
> R. Whittaker (eds) Trade and famine in classical antiquity (Cambridge I983)
> 6-i6. Selling children is still big business in India.
> <http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/aug/04/india-traffickers-sell-children-slavery>
>
>
> So, there you are.  Debt goes back for millennia, and is often
> olive-related.   I I think it's the piece below that is really worthwhile,
> and I'd be interested to get additional info.
>
> Very best,
>
> Dan Tompkins
>
> *Sources: Official reports on Greece's achievements (and failures, delays,
> state of things)*
>
>
>
> *OECD*  [see: http://www.oecd.org/greece/publicationsdocuments/reports/ ]
>
> http://www.oecd.org/eco/growth/goingforgrowth.htm [ OECD 20125 edition of
> "Going for Growth" to be released on Feb. 9, 2015 ]
>
>
> http://www.oecd.org/greece/revenue-statistics-and-consumption-tax-trends-2014-greece.pdf
>
>
> http://www.keepeek.com/Digital-Asset-Management/oecd/social-issues-migration-health/international-migration-outlook-2014/greece_migr_outlook-2014-19-en#page4
>
>
> http://www.keepeek.com/Digital-Asset-Management/oecd/urban-rural-and-regional-development/how-s-life-in-your-region/greece_9789264217416-26-en#page1
> [How is Life in your Region - Greece, Oct. 2014]
>
>
> http://www.keepeek.com/Digital-Asset-Management/oecd/urban-rural-and-regional-development/oecd-regional-outlook-2014/greece_9789264201415-26-en#page1
>
> http://www.oecd.org/edu/Greece-EAG2014-Country-Note.pdf  [Education at a
> Glance - Greece-country note]
>
> http://www.oecd.org/greece/EMO-GRC-EN.pdf [Employment Outlook -- findings
> on Greece]
>
> http://www.oecd.org/els/health-systems/Briefing-Note-GREECE-2014.pdf
>
> http://www.oecd.org/greece/OECD-SocietyAtaGlance2014-Highlights-Greece.pdf
>
>
> http://www.oecd.org/eco/growth/ambitious-structural-reforms-can-pave-the-return-to-strong-and-sustainable-growth.htm
> [Going for Growth 2014 report - press release Feb. 21, 2014 - "The
> intensity of reform has remained highest in southern euro area countries
> like Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain, which are suffering from high
> long-term unemployment and youth joblessness."]
>
>
> http://www.oecd.org/competition/greece-oecd-identifies-hundreds-of-competition-distorting-rules-and-provisions.htm
>
>
> http://www.oecd.org/competition/launch-of-the-competition-policy-assessment-of-greece.htm
>
>
> http://www.oecd.org/eco/surveys/greece-structural-reforms-under-way-but-more-progress-needed-in-boosting-market-dynamism.htm
> [OECD Economic Survey of Greece, Nov.2013]
>
> http://www.oecd.org/eco/surveys/GRC_Overview_Eng_2013.pdf [OECD Economic
> Survey of Greece, Nov.2013 - Overview - Main Findings]
>
>
> http://www.oecd.org/greece/OECD-PensionsAtAGlance-2013-Highlights-Greece.pdf
>
> http://www.oecd.org/greece/HsL-Country-Note-Greece.pdf [How is life -
> Measuring well-being - Greece country snapshot, 5 Nov. 2013]
>
>
> http://www.oecd.org/eco/structuralreformsmoreimportantthaneverforastrongandbalancedeconomicrecovery.htm
> [Going for Growth 2013 report - press release Feb. 15, 2013 - "This
> year's report (...)shows that the pace of reform has accelerated where it is
> most needed - in the European countries hardest hit by sovereign debt
> duress, including *Greece*, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain."]
>
>
> http://www.oecd.org/economy/structuralreformscanmakethedifferenceascountriesreboundfromcrisisoecdsays.htm
> [Going for Growth 2013 report - press release Feb. 24, 2012 - "The OECD
> report assesses and compares progress that countries have made on
> structural reforms since the start of the crisis, covering the 2007-11
> period. It shows that the pace of reform has accelerated where it is needed
> most - in the European countries hardest hit by the sovereign debt crisis,
> including *Greece*, Ireland, Portugal and most recently, Spain and Italy." ]
> Chart from press release:
>
>
>
> *IMF*  [see: http://www.imf.org/external/country/GRC/index.htm ]
>
> http://www.imf.org/external/np/speeches/2014/070914.htm [Remarks
> delivered at the 18th Economist Roundtable with the Government of Greece By
> Rishi Goyal, Advisor in the IMF's European Department, Athens, July 9, 2014
> ]
>
> http://www.imf.org/external/np/vc/2014/061514.htm [Poul Thomsen interview
> to "Ethnos", 15 June 2014]
>
> http://www.imf.org/external/np/tr/2014/tr061014.htm [Transcript of an IMF
> Conference Call on the Fifth Review of Greece's EFF, June 10, 2014 ]
>
> http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.aspx?sk=41614.0 [Greece:
> Fifth Review Under the Extended Arrangement Under the Extended Fund
> Facility, and Request for Waiver of Nonobservance of Performance Criterion
> and Rephasing of Access; Staff Report; Press Release; and Statement by the
> Executive Director for Greece --  June 10, 2014 ]
>
> http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/survey/so/2014/car060914a.htm [IMF
> Survey Magazine - Poul Thomsen interview June 10, 2014: "Greece: Grounds
> for Cautious Optimism"]
>
> http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2014/pr14254.htm [IMF Completes
> Fifth Review Under Extended Fund Facility Arrangement for Greece and
> Approves EURO 3.41 Billion Disbursement - press release, May 30, 2014 ]
>
>
>
> *Eur.Commission* [ see:
> http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/eu/countries/greece_en.htm ]
>
> http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/eu/forecasts/2015_winter/el_en.pdf
> [Latest forecasts on Greece - Feb. 5, 2015]
>
>
> http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/publications/european_economy/2014/pdf/ee5_en.pdf
> [Market Reforms At Work in Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece - Sept.
> 2014]  [Market reforms to boost economic activity and competitiveness
> have been a central part of Europe's response to the crisis. This report
> estimates the potential impact of a selection of such market reforms in
> four of Europe's most vulnerable economies: Italy, Greece, Portugal and
> Spain. It finds indicators suggesting that the varied reform efforts in
> these countries appear to be starting to have a positive effect. Both
> reform efforts and their effectiveness seem to vary across the four
> countries, with Spain showing the strongest signs that the reforms are
> starting to pay off, followed by Portugal, while Italy and Greece seem to
> lag behind. The report aims to detect the transmission channels through
> which reforms ultimately affect macroeconomic outcomes and pays special
> attention to the role that the entry and exit of firms plays. Business
> dynamics channel the effects of reforms on efficiency of resource
> allocation and on productivity. The estimated potential gains suggested by
> the report would be significant once their full impacts are realised,
> although there is plenty of scope for further improvement. ]
>
>
> http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/publications/european_economy/2014/pdf/ee5_summary_en.pdf
> [Market Reforms At Work in Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece - Summary
> for non-specialists - Sept. 2014]
>
> http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-14-495_en.htm [ EU Task Force
> activity report - press release July 2014]
>
> http://ec.europa.eu/archives/commission_2010-2014/president/pdf/qr7_en.pdf
> [EU Task Force activity report -July 2014]
>
>
> http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/assistance_eu_ms/greek_loan_facility/pdf/presentation_4th_review_2nd_programme_brussels_en.pdf
> [2nd Econ.Adjustment Programme - 4th Review - Presentation - April 2014]
>
>
> http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/publications/occasional_paper/2014/pdf/ocp192_summary_en.pdf
> 2nd Econ.Adjustment Programme - 4th Review - Summary for non-specialists -
> April 2014 ]
>
> *The Lisbon Council - Euro Plus Monitor* [ see:
> http://www.lisboncouncil.net/ ]
>
> http://www.lisboncouncil.net/component/news/news/576.html [17/12/2014 EU
> Reform Euro Economy The Lisbon Council and Berenberg jointly publish The
> 2014 Euro Plus Monitor: Leaders and Laggards, the premiere competitiveness
> ranking published each year. The classification is based on a complex
> double metric: The Adjustment Progress Indicator measures the speed with
> which countries are reforming (*this year's winners are Greece*, Ireland
> and Latvia). The Fundamental Health Indicator looks at the overall economic
> strength (or weakness) of the 18 countries of the eurozone plus Poland,
> Sweden and the United Kingdom (this year's winners are Luxembourg and
> Estonia; while Germany falls one spot to No. 3). The study was launched in
> Brussels at The 2014 Euro Summit in the presence of Valdis Dombrovskis,
> vice-president of the European Commission responsible for the euro and
> social dialogue. - See more at:
> http://www.lisboncouncil.net/component/news/news/576.html#sthash.ZsFHjp1v.dpuf
> ]
>
>
> - IS
>
>
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