Greece on the brink
Wednesday, June 22, 2011, 15:30 BST / 10:30 EDT / 16:30 CEDT
Caught between international lenders enforcing austerity, an increasingly unhappy Socialist party, and a significant part of the population resisting reforms that they see as in the interests of bankers and not ordinary people, Prime Minister George Papandreou has reshuffled his cabinet and put the revamped administration to a parliamentary vote of confidence. Winning that vote means that the austerity programme continues -- perhaps with some minor changes -- and, crucially, that the international bailout goes on.
In this special Open Conference Call, leading Oxford Analytica experts will explore the risks to the euro-area and beyond of Greece's protracted economic crisis.
Key questions include:
- How close is Greece to default?
- If Greece does default, what are the consequences for other weak euro-area economies, such as Ireland and Portugal?
- What are the consequences for the European banking system, the wider global financial system and the global recovery?
- Could Greece exit the euro, and would that 'solve' the problem?
- Will the country get behind the new government, and will it finally get a grip on the situation?
- Are the European Commission, ECB and euro-area leaders having a ‘good’ crisis?
- What effect is the crisis having on EU institutions?
