*** ANTHONY B. ATKINSON: Inégalités. Editions du Seuil (25 bd Romain-Rolland, F-75014 Paris. Email: commercial@seuil.com - Internet: http://www.seuil.com ). « Economie humaine » series. 2016, 446 pp. €23. ISBN 978-2-02-129711-9.
Originally published in English, "Inequality: What Can Be Done?" by Harvard University Press, this book helps us to remain engaged. Apart from fellow economists, the author of this book is not known by a lot of people. Nonetheless, he is recognised by his peers as one of the greatest specialists in the world on the question of wealth distribution and the subsequent inequalities that have continued to grow since the Thatcher and Reagan years and the poverty that has consequently become a visible wound in our societies. In this book he does not simply analyse and explain the evils in our society but he also calls for people to put forward practical ideas for formulating a "genuine action programme" to tackle them, as a certain Thomas Piketty deftly resumes in the preface to the French version of this book. Although the latter, a French economist, is now a celebrity, he does not forget the fact that it was Anthony Atkinson who was his mentor and he recognises everything he owes to this professor at the London School of Economics. He explains that he has always attempted to reconcile the intellectual with ordinary citizens, before finally deciding to leave behind the terrain of intellectual research and venture down the path of action and public intervention in this book that is supported by a grant from DG Economic and Financial Affairs at the European Commission.
Professor Atkinson was at the House of Commons in 1988 when Nigel Lawson, Margaret Thatcher's Chancellor of the Exchequer, obtained a vote in favour of a drastic 40% reduction on the top rate of income tax. A Conservative MP is said to have written that he did not have enough zeros on his calculator to measure the scale of the tax return that he was subsequently granted with this windfall! Absolute delight on one side but indignation on the other: since then, this Professor of economics has not ceased to call for a return to greater tax progressivity. He believes that the huge cut in the high end of income tax rates has significantly contributed to the spectacular increase in inequality in the United Kingdom since the 1980s. In this book, he confirms the need to return to the discussion about this tax taboo so that the levels of inequality and poverty in the United Kingdom can ultimately return to levels that are close to the average of countries in the OECD. Although the author believes that they need to first of all tackle the question of tax redistribution, he also believes it necessary to devise a more radical form of reformism by seeking to transform, as explained by Piketty, the way in which the labour market and capital markets themselves operate, so that those with the fewest rights are bequeathed new ones. He considers that the inequality impregnating the economic and social structure in the United Kingdom (is not this evil also affecting other countries?) means that all the different aspects in society should be taken into account so that inequalities are substantially reduced. He therefore calls for action in all the different areas of technological change, the future of employment and pay, sharing capital resources, progressive taxation and, ultimately, social security for all.
His proposals are as radical as they are well argued and they compel us to rethink the fundamental aspects of our modern society and reject the political ideas that have dominated recent decades but are they realistic? The third part of the book provides a number of answers to these questions relating to the feasibility of his ideas. Although the whole of his book provides clarification for each and everyone of us, because the writer seeks to address the non-specialist reader and takes his inspiration from Stephen Hawking for whom each equation divides the number of readers by two, there is therefore no reason not to read this book from cover to cover particularly because the copyright benefits it creates will also wind up in the pockets of four different charities. Michel Theys
*** YANIS VAROUFAKIS: Notre printemps d'Athènes. Editions Les liens qui libèrent (2 impasse de Conti, F-75006 Paris. Internet: http://www.editionslesliensquiliberent.fr ). 2015, 109 pp. €10. ISBN 979-10-209-0367-9.
Judging by the evidence, Yanis Varoufakis is and remains a European figure that leaves no one indifferent and he is adored by some as much as he is detested by others. In this small book, he returns to the speech he made at the Rose de Frangy-en-Bresse Festival last August and an interview he gave at the same time to the Ballast collective. This former Greek Minister of Finance subsequently shows that it would in fact be a mistake to read his work with any ideological blinkers. In response to those who see him as an idol committed to defending an ultra liberal Europe that has sold out to anti-democratic capitalism, he replies that he is not against Europe but for another kind of Europe and that undermining it would result in throwing him into the arms of the nationalists as in the 1930s and reliving the years in which the only beneficiaries were, "the bigots, nationalists, xenophobes and barbarians". He explains, however, that the only solution is to move towards a genuine federation because at our current juncture and for too long, "globalisation has been destroying national sovereignty but not replacing it with any sort of alternative sovereignty". He would like to rectify the failings and democratic deficits but not by closing in again into a number of rehabilitated nation-states but rather by giving life to a, "popular European sovereignty". Does this effectively means that he deserves the wrath of those who claim to be currently working for the good of all Europeans? (MT)
*** ALEKOS ALAVANOS, GEORGE VASSALOS (Editors): Euro ou drachme ? La seule route à suivre est la deuxième. Plan B: questions et réponses. Editions Korontzis (58 rue Kasampa, GR-16122 Kaissariani. Tel: (30-210) 7291789 - fax: 7225690 - Email: ekdosiskorontzi@yahoo.gr). 2015, 237 pp. €12.78. ISBN 978-618-5042-00-4.
The line of conduct followed by Greece over a period of decades finally came to an end with the Memorandum and what that spelt out: tough austerity; redundancies; spiralling unemployment; poverty; shops and micro-companies condemned to closure, as well as schools, universities and hospitals; the sale of public assets; the abolition of workers' rights and the weakening of democratic rights etc. According to the authors, all this has been imposed by recent governments under pressure from the Troika but it was not the only choice available or the only way of tackling the crisis. In reality, this plan only serves the interests of big business and the political parties linked to the European Union and International Monetary Fund. This plan has ensured that the burden of the crisis has been borne on the shoulders of citizens alone. The 12 authors contributing to this book are all academics, journalists and parliamentarians and they provide assurances that there was an alternative that could have given jobs to the unemployed, allowed the destitute a way out of poverty and the pensioners to live with dignity, as well as provide a future for young people and stop people losing their homes and children and young people the means to benefit from a public education system and quality healthcare and develop the country's potential… They argue, however, that this Plan B required an immediate exit from the Eurozone, which was indispensable for being able to recuperate political, economic and monetary control. It also implies the scrapping of the predatory debt and a subsequent shift to nationalisation, with people's control of the banks and other strategic enterprises, in addition to an economic development policy that was at the service of society as a whole and not just the bankers and those in charge of the monopolies. The authors propose the redistribution of wealth to those that produce it and a total break with the European Union, to enable Greece to become fully sovereign in respect of democracy, which they believe is the only effective measure that can really help the country find a way out of the crisis. (AKa)
*** NIKOS INGLESSIS: La révolution de Grexit - Le plan. Editions Livanis (98 Solonos, GR-10680 Athens. Tel: (30-210) 3661200 - fax: 3617791 - Email: webmaster@livanis.gr - Internet: http://www.livanis.gr ). 2015, 250 pp. €12. ISBN 978-960-14-2969-4.
Introducing the drachma again to Greece would help increase liquidity in the economy and finance productive investments. The Greek state would also stop having to borrow from "foreigners". It would therefore stop continually creating new debt and having to constantly pay ever more interest. If the new drachma is set at the correct rate, no Greek citizen would have to lose their assets or money, as long as inflation is controlled. Even better, unemployment could fall thanks to new investments agreed and salaries and pensions would gradually increase… This is the message launched in this book by a journalist specialising in budgetary questions. His premise is based on the conviction that there are two ways of conquering and enslaving a country: the first is by the sword and the second is by debt. The latter is more effective because at least at the beginning the enslaved people can't see it. The conquerors look like partners who want to help and they name their expensive loans "assistance", their tax raids "budgetary adjustment" and wage and pension reductions "reforms". Subsequently, the governance of their country returns to them and loans are used as a way of exacting tribute or interest on the loans… (AKa)
*** YANNIS PAPADOYIANNIS: La fin sans gloire. Editions Papadopoulos (9 Kapodistriou, GR-14452 Metamorphosi. Tel: (30-210) 2846074 - fax 2817127 - Email: info@epbooks.gr - Internet: http://www.epbooks.gr ). 2015, 224 pp. €11.95. ISBN 978-960-484-376-3.
At the end of 2007, the Greek banks found themselves at the heights of Olympus. The super profits of billions of dollars, unlimited growth, acquisitions in the Balkans and staggering rises in the share prices of banks quoted on the Athens stock exchange were all very common during these halcyon days. The banks seemed to embody success. This golden age, however, proved ephemeral. According to Yannis Papadoyiannis, the editor-in-chief for the economic service at the Greek daily newspaper Kathimerini, in 2011 and 2012, the losses suffered by the Greek banks did not just make all the profits they had acquired during the golden decade of 2001-2010 vanish into smoke, it also caused them to "devour" the totality of their own funds. Suddenly, a new term entered our lives: recapitalisation. This book describes this insane race that led the Greek banking system from the zenith to the abyss. The author also examines the responsibility that the Greek banking system should assume for the emergence and domination of an economic model that was stupidly naive to the point that it led its main actors to metaphorically commit suicide … (AKa)
*** DIONISIS CHIONIS: La crise grecque. L'aventure de la dette. Editions Papasotiriou (37 rue Panepistimiou, GR-10680 Athens. Tel: (30-210) 3323300 - fax: 3848524 - Email: alpap@papasotiriou.gr - Internet: http://www.papasotiriou.gr ). 2015, 170 pp. €14.90. ISBN 978-960-491-094-6.
According to the author, a lecturer at the Department of Economic and International Relations at the Democratic University of Thrace, the problem with the economy is that it does not appear to carry out any verification of the results of the policies that have been put into place. In an effort to respond to the Greek debt crisis, a number of economic stabilisation programmes were put into place, of which the main characteristic appeared to be huge uncertainty about their ultimate budgetary and social repercussions. This is highly regrettable, given that we are now aware of the impact. One of the problems that has hampered any understanding of the crisis and its "treatment" can be located in the preconceived ideas and constructed stereotypes over recent years in Greek society, despite the fact that only a quantitative evaluation and analysis of the policies should be able to influence the way in which they are accepted or rejected. Today, the debate about the best way of tackling the crisis continues to grow in Greece and elsewhere, which presents a challenge to economic science because serious questions are raised about whether cutting budgets is the only way of taking action. Would not the dialogue have been much more constructive if it had been based on the subject of what effective combination of policies should be implemented? Undoubtedly, but the exploration of possible alternative policies is now, however, much more of a necessity than a simple political choice. The author in fact points out that envisaging a framework of different policies should also proceed to an evaluation of the measures previously applied so as to avoid possible mistakes being made in the future. (AKa)
*** COSTAS LAPAVITSAS: Profit sans production. Comment le système financier nous exploite tous. Editions Topos (2 rue Plapouta, GR-11473-Athens. Tel: (30-210) 8222835 - fax: 8222684 - Email: info@motibo.com - Internet: http://www.toposbooks.gr ). 2015, 536 pp. €25.90. ISBN 978-960-499-110-5.
Financialisation is one of the most novel ideas that have appeared in the political economy domain over the past three decades. In this book, the author presents it as being based on the fundamental behaviour of the banks and households and that its most striking characteristic is an increase in financial margins. Financialisation of capitalism can be a spearhead to crisis, which was spectacularly revealed as such in the crash of 2007. By drawing on an abundant source of empirical data, Costas Lapavitsas, a professor of economics at the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies provides a methodical clarification of what he describes as the most extremely powerful and potentially most destructive phenomenon of our time. In the same perspective he gets to grips with the causes of the crisis and provides an examination of the possible options available as a means of controlling finance. The author is also an MP in the Syriza Party, which involves him putting forward a sophisticated reinterpretation of Marxist ideas and presenting alternative theoretical views and a series of daring and substantial proposals for reform. In this book, he provides a significant tool in helping us to understand the concept of financialisation and the feelings it provokes in increasingly large sectors of the population. In so doing, he also happens to paint a picture that is not exactly the most optimistic overview of the world in which we currently live. (AKa)