Linkagogo Archive 2: Steven Hill in Athens Greece: Linkography

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Hill delivered a lecture entitled "The U.S. Midterm Elections and the Challenge of Europe" on Saturday 16 October 2010 at the University of Indianapolis' Athens Cultural Center in the Greek capital.

The event was sponsored by the Athens Chapter of Democrats Abroad Greece as part of their 'get-out-the-vote' drive. The lecture was well received. It stirred media interest and caught the Foreign Ministry's attention. In this segment, Linkagogo provides links to articles, interviews, videos and our very own Gallery of Photos related to the Athens leg of Hill's European speaking tour.

Steven Hill: The Crisis Unites Europe
Interview in Greek: 16 October 2010 – Vima Online, the leading daily newspaper in Greece, by Markos Karasarinis (Greek reference: Στίβεν Χίλ Η κρίση ενώνει την Ευρώπη Μάρκος Καρασαρίνης, 16 Οκτωβρίου 2010 - Το Βήμα Online. Use Google translator).

The American writer, journalist and political analyst talks about the opportunities the crisis provides to Europe, and tells why he believes that Greece is on the right track. More specifically Hill states that the current government is moving away from the previous practices of hiding deficits and is combating tax evasion… Certainly the deficits are a challenge not only for Greece but also for many other western governments as well as Japan. (Ο αμερικανός συγγραφέας, δημοσιογράφος και πολιτικός αναλυτής μιλάει για τις ευκαιρίες που προσφέρει στην Ευρώπη η κρίση και εκτιμά ότι η Ελλάδα βρίσκεται στον σωστό δρόμο.«Νομίζω ότι η σημερινή κυβέρνηση βαδίζει στον σωστό δρόμο, απέχει από την πρακτική της προηγούμενης να κρύβει τα ελλείμματα, επιχειρεί να τα ελέγξει και να πατάξει τη φοροδιαφυγή. Βέβαια, τα ελλείμματα αποτελούν πρόκληση, όχι μόνο για την Ελλάδα αλλά και για πολλές από τις υπόλοιπες δυτικές κυβερνήσεις, όπως και για την Ιαπωνία. … είναι πράγματι δυνατόν να μειωθούν τα ελλείμματα μιας χώρας χωρίς μείζονα ύφεση της οικονομίας της.. ».)

Steven Hill: The Insane Prescription of the
IMF is Repeated in Greece
Interview in Greek: 21 October 2010 – Zoom News (Greek reference: Παραφροσύνη η επανάληψη της συνταγής ΔΝΤ στην Ελλάδα , Δημ/ση 21 Οκτ. 2010 – Zoomnews.gr (Use Google translator). The event took place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 18 October. The distinguished analyst (Hill) argued against the IMF prescriptions that are already in place

in the Greek economy. He considers the American Model of Capitalism, know as Wall Street Capitalism, bankrupt because it brought on the economic chaos that plunged America into recession.
(Η εκδήλωση διοργάνωσε στο Αμφιθέατρο του Υπουργείου Εξωτερικών στις 18 Οκτωβρίου..ο διακεκριμένος αναλυτής τάχθηκε κατά των “συνταγών ΔΝΤ” που εφαρμόζονται ήδη στην ελληνική οικονομία και σημειώνει ότι “δεν είναι δυνατόν να καθορίζεται η επιτυχίας μία οικονομίας μόνο από το ΑΕΠ". Τέλος, θεωρεί “χρεοκοπημένο” το μοντέλο αμερικανικού καπιταλισμού, που εφαρμόστηκε τα προηγούμενα χρόνια και έχει μείνει γνωστό ως “Wall street capitalism”. Ένα μοντέλο που παρασύρθηκε στο χάος, μαζί με τα απομεινάρια της Lehman Brothers και των εκατομμυρίων subprime στεγαστικών δανείων, που έχουν βυθίσει στην ύφεση όλη την αμερικανική κοινωνία..)
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This was quite an impressive event put on by IPEDIS at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 18 October 2010. Hill was the keynote speaker. He discussed issues related to the EU and the Greek economy. The event was open to the press and members of the community. It was held in the prestigious Kranidiotis Amphitheater named in honor of the Deputy Foreign Minister who died in a plane accident when he was on his way to Romania in 1999.

Those present included the Dutch Ambassador, Mr Cornelis van Rij, DAGr Chair Yvette Jarvis, and DAGr Vice Chair Alec Mally who arranged this event and helped facilitate Hill's stay in Athens. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent Ambassador Chrisoula Aliferi, Chief of the North America Division, to chair the discussion.

Below, Linkagogo provides the entire YouTube video clip of Hill's presentation as released by IPEDIS in four parts. Click here for the key points of Hill's speech.

PART 1 - THE WORLD FACES CHALLENGES

Snippets: "Greece is occupying its little corner of the world in these challenges and in many ways, in my view, is kind of the canary in the mind shaft. It gives us the indication of something that is wrong about the overall environment… It is the first to feel the effects of the overall environment - of how we’ve developed our economies in the late 20th century and early 21th century."

PART 2 - GREECE FIGURE OUT WHAT YOU
HAVE THAT EUROPE WANTS

Snippets: "Europe has the largest economy in the world. In fact it produces about 1/3 of the world economy. Europe’s economy is almost as large as the US and China combined. Think about that! You have an economy here of 500 million people. You figure out what you have in Greece that those people in other parts of Europe want. You have the largest internal market in the world in terms of a wealthy market!!"

PART 3 - THE GREEK DEBT CRISIS
HELPED EUROPE

Snippets: "Europe created a trillion dollar bailout fund in order to take Greece off the bond market and prevent speculation… and in partnership with Greece and the IMF came up with a credible plan. It also has come up with other reforms such as allowing Eurostat to look at the books of governments before budgets are sent to national parliaments to prevent the type of hiding of debt that was going on in Greece… In a way the debt crisis helped Europe…"

PART 4 - GREECE AND A SUCCESSFUL
MODERN ECONOMY

Snippets: “Going forward in the 21st century it’s going to be more important if economies can count things… And if you can’t count it really makes it difficult, very difficult to move forward… The sort of ‘off the shelf economy’ that has gone side by side with the quasi-modern economy may be part of the Greek problem… And you’re going to have to figure out different ways to start an evolution, a transformation to have the ability to monitor things, and have the metrics that allow you to judge if you are achieving goals and methods needed for a successful economy.”

Greece: Epicenter of the Debt Earthquake?
Posted: 27 November 2010 - La Progressive. Also posted at: How's Europe Doing - The Washington Monthly, 25 November 2010. Unlike the other countries I have visited where “the fear of the crisis has turned out to be worse than the crisis itself” (as one commentator told me), in Greece the impact of the economic crisis has hit like a small tsunami. My colleagues in Athens talked about declines in service, in the quality of health care and other dents in the Greek system that they had been experiencing.

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My Interview With Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou…From The Top Of The Acropolis
Blog: How's Europe Doing - posted 5 December 2010 - The Washington Monthly.
Hill’s interview with PM Papandreou was preceded by one with his Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Spyros Kouvelis. Mr. Kouvelis summarized the present situation, provided background information and talked about the way forward. The interview with the PM was conducted from the Acropolis via Hill’s mobile phone. Follow the link above to find why this interview was held in such a dramatic way and what Hill discussed with the PM.

Athens, Birthplace of Democracy
Blog: How's Europe Doing - posted: 28 November 2010 – a travel piece.
Located at the base of the Acropolis in Athens are the ruins of the Ancient Agora. Hill visits the site and reflects on this assembly place where, 2500 years ago, democracy began.

Get more on:
The Greek Financial Crisis
Hill's European tour

ELSEWHERE IN LINKAGOGO

Steven Hill in Athens Greece: Linkography

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