Ann Pettifor and Lee C Buchheit – Europe’s Sovereign Debt Crisis – iiea

About the Event:

Governments across Europe are responding to market concerns over their public debt levels by implementing harsh austerity programmes and formulating unprecedented joint policy actions.

At this seminar, jointly organised by the IIEA and the Law Society of Ireland’s EU & International Affairs Committee, an expert panel evaluated the politico-economic context of the current crisis, its implications for the Euro and the EU, and its potential impact on the global economy.

Dietmar Hornung delivered an outlook on European sovereigns which argued that profound and sustained austerity measures were crucial to exiting the current crisis.

Ann Pettifor, deploying Keynesian economic arguments, countered Mr Hornung’s perspective, insisting that it was futile to try to bring down debt levels without first investing to ensure economic growth.

Lee C. Buchheit, focusing on Greece, explored scenarios that would demand a “Plan B” and shared his thoughts on what such a plan might entail.

About the Speakers:

Lee C. Buchheit is an internationally renowned US legal expert on sovereign debt issues. He currently serves as the chairman of the Icelandic government’s negotiating committee in the Icesave dispute between the Icelandic, British and Dutch governments.

Dietmar Hornung is the Vice-President and Senior Analyst of Moody’s Sovereign Risk Group. He is also the rating agency’s lead analyst on Ireland. The rating decisions made by his group are highly influential in international bond and currency markets; recent months have seen unprecedented downgrades across a group of European countries.

Ann Pettifor is the Executive Director of Advocacy International and a fellow of the UK’s New Economics Foundation. She predicted an Anglo-American debt-deflationary crisis in 2003 and is well known for her work on sovereign debt and international finance, including co-founding the Jubilee 2000 (Drop the Debt) campaign.

The seminar was chaired by Dan O’Brien, Economics Editor of the Irish Times.