Ban Talks Greek Crisis at Brown
Cornel Ban, Assistant Professor of International Relations at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, recently gave a talk at Brown University on the resolution of the Greek crisis.
Calling the years since the 2010 bailout of Greece, which was heavily hit by the Eurozone economic crisis, “an economic tragedy…and social catastrophe,” Ban detailed the gains and losses from the February 2015 bailout extension talks in Brussels. Greece’s new left SYRIZA government had pledged debt relief and an end to austerity measures, but the final result of the talks was a four-month bailout extension with only a few gains for the Greek safety net.
Though one of the potential fallouts of continued intransigence is a Greek exit (‘Grexit’) from the Euro currency, a move that would have enormously destabilizing ramifications, electoral politics in conservative Eurozone states make compromise difficult, Ban said.
Ban was joined by Sir Paul Tucker, former vice governor of the Bank of England, now senior fellow at Harvard, Mark Blyth, Eastman professor of political economy at Brown University and Gauti Eggertsson, associate professor of economics at the same university.
The Feb. 26 event was hosted by the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University.
Before joining the IR Department in 2012, Ban was a postdoctoral fellow at the Watson Institute and served as deputy director of Development Studies, an undergraduate specialization at the same academic institution. He is currently also the co-chair of the Global Economic Governance Initiative (GEGI), as well as currently completing a book manuscript on the political economy of crises, with a focus on the role of economic ideas and the interaction between international and domestic actors.