Greece's odious debt pdf

Sovereigndebtatthe crossroads challengesandproposalsfor. The paper, particularly section ii, benefited from the invaluable contribution of maurizio ragazzi of the world bank legal department. Several key economic and social points to understanding the historical context in which greece attained independence in the 19 th century. Newly independent greece had an odious debt round her neck. Mar 31, 2015 whether greece s debt can be considered odious is a thorny legal issue and well beyond the competence of this currency strategist. Jul 15, 2002 that is, odious debt contracts could be made legally unenforceable. Greeces odious debt the looting of the hellenic republic. Countries could claim that previous debt was odious as an excuse to renege on legitimate debt. Practical implications therefore, greece, instead of the odious debt doctrine, should resort to other debt solutions such as simple debt repayment, restructuring or haircut of the debt.

Greece and finally we name the amount and euro states that own the greek loans. Odious debt can be seen as a special case of the more general problem of debt relief, which is an issue raised by many developing countries that cannot meet their debt burden. Howse, the concept of odious debt in public international law, unctad paper 185. Is the third greek memoranda of understanding and loan. The looting of the hellenic republic by the euro the political elite. On the odiousness of greek debt wiley online library. Cheng suggests that the odious debt concept somehow would require that a debtor assert the non enforcement of all the debt in question. Odious debt and the betrayal of the popular will in greece. A debt could be classified as odious, however, only if the lender knew that the. The book starts not in greece nor even in europe but in argentina, ten years earlier. Jun 05, 2015 for some reason, people think a sovereign default, and a subsequent debt restructuring such as greeces government faces, is something that is conceivable the proverbial asteroid hitting the. Greeces odious debt greeces odious debt by jason manolopoulos. Watch the greekproduced documentary debtocracy which advocates discharging the debt as odious debt for details.

Whether greece s debt can be considered odious is a thorny legal issue and well beyond the competence of this currency strategist. An audit commission for greece is urgently needed to investigate its recent odious debt history and would be the equivalent of a truth commission or war crimes tribunal by investigating gross violations of human rights and of constitutional law. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. This term, first coined in 1927, originally referred to obligations incurred by a despotic government for purposes unrelated to the welfare of the state read, for the personal gain of the despot and his cronies. Advancing the odious debt doctrine executive summary. That is, the doctrine of odious debt carves out a qualification to the generally accepted rule of repayment.

Dealing comprehensively, and justly, with sovereign debt 226 jack boorman 12. The looting of the hellenic republic by the euro, the political elite and the investment community anthem european studies,anthem. The report emerges at a fraught time in greece s negotiations with its creditors. Papandreou tries to prop up the pillarseconomist, dec. The looting of the hellenic republic by the euro, the political elite and the investment community anthem finance at. Pdf odious debt, odious credit, economic development, and. Although the comparison between greece and argentina is far from exact, it is deeply illustrative, with argentinas peg. Pdf this essay suggests that the legal doctrine of odious debt needs a. Athens is pushing for debt relief that the europeans are unwilling to grant, though the international.

Curtailing odious debt, in contrast, is a selfenforcing sanction. It is now flat dry land and is still known as kopaida. Forcegreecebeam, straight upthe european union and its crisesgreeces odious debtfinancialisation and the financial and economic crisescomrade. Despite antecedents dating back to the 1800s and support from diverse fields such as economics. Will greece repudiate its odious debt 61915 in a zerohedge article called greek debt committee just declared all debt to the troika illegal, illegitimate, and odious, we read that two months ago zoi konstantopulou, speaker of the greek parliament and a syriza member, said she had established a new truth committee on. An excellent study both of the eurozone and of the greek case by jason manolopoulos, greece s odious debt anthem press. Historically, the theory of odious debts has mainly been developed in the writings of angloamerican jurists. Finally, the article notes that an additional benefit to periodical invocation of the odious debt doctrine is that it reminds lenders that the doctrine may at some point gain acceptance in the. The greek debt truth committee constitutes a paradigmatic shift in the. The mou is also silent on the odious, illegal and illegitimate nature of the greek debt as a whole particularly the conversion of private into public debt, as well as on the odious, illegal and illegitimate nature of the loans disbursed to greece since 2010, which were used almost entirely around 92. Vikram nehru and mark thomas this paper was prepared by the authors when they were respectively director and lead economist in the economic policy and debt department of the world bank. Overview, policy responses, and implications congressional research service 2 interest to congress, including the impact of the greek debt crisis on the u. The people of greece have remained in the thrall of the odious debt that she was born with.

The second stage in the cycle of predatory lending involved the use of creative accounting techniques to hide greeces public debt and keep the country in the lending game. Capitalism and government debt at odds in greece 12. Illegitimacy, illegality, odiousness and unsustainability. Save up to 80% by choosing the etextbook option for isbn. More generally, any adjudicating body that had the power to declare debt void might nullify legitimate debt if it placed a high value on the welfare of the debtor country. Okeefe, r, the doctrine of incorporation revisited. The concept of odious debt refers to sovereign debt which does not entitle the creditor to request repayment, on account of either how the debt was generated, how the funds resulting from the loan have been used, or the effect that repaying the debt would have on the fundamental rights of the people of the indebted state. Illegitimacy, illegality, odiousness and unsustainability of. Greece s odious debt is subtitled the looting of the hellenic republic by the euro, the political elite and the investment community. Solidarity within the eurozone institut jacques delors.

It was under slavery for about 400 years under the ottoman empire. Apr 06, 2015 whether greeces debt can be considered odious is a thorny legal issue and well beyond the competence of this currency strategist. Jason manolopoulos lends a unique perspective, based on experience of the global financial system, emerging markets and. Such debts are, thus, considered by this doctrine to be personal debts of the regime that incurred them and not debts of the state. Samuel brittan, financial times, blunt, rigorous and shrewd, manolopoulos resembles a wise uncle explaining how a neerdowell cousin gambled away the familys future. Jun 30, 2011 in 2007 ecuador under correa convened a national audit commission pdf and based on its findings in 2008 invoked the concept of odious debt to default on debt repayments that would have assaulted the quality of life and human rights in that country. But even nominally elected government officials can be parties to loans that are illegal or odious and, thus, there might be a legal or moral basis for negating such. Pdf this essay suggests that the legal doctrine of odious debt needs a restatement to stay relevant in the face of important changes affecting. Nevertheless, its arguments are consistent with some of the precedent that has been established. The syriza government has not claimed that it is odious. Rather, one should argue that odious debts are unenforceable under international law. Odious debt concept and the truth committee on public debt in greek or hellenic parliament.

In scholarship on odious debt, i discuss the relevant literature on the topic and. The eurozone in crisis council on foreign relations. Odious debt 215 seema jayachandran and michael kremer 11. Introduction chapter 1 the doctrine of odious debt in. In international law, odious debt, also known as illegitimate debt, is a legal theory that says that the national debt incurred by a despotic regime should not be enforceable. Myths and selfdeceptions about the greek debt crisis 1. The looting of the hellenic republic by the euro, the.

Jul 05, 2015 the greek audit committee on public debt released its preliminary findings june 18, concluding that greece s public debt is illegal, illegitimate and odious. The longrunning greek public debt crisis has been accompanied by an information war that has. Hence, we came to the conclusion that greece should not pay this debt because it is illegal, illegitimate, and odious. In 2001, goldman sachs offered its services to transact a 2. Jul 18, 2016 after syrizas treason, zoe konstantopoulou, exspeaker of greeces parliament, founds a new party to unburden greece of its odious debt story transcript dimitri lascaris, trnn. Lake copais, also spelled kopais or kopaida ancient greek. In addition, the greek government in 2012 conducted a recapitalization of greek banks, totaling 48. Finally, the 3 criteria you listed came from sabine michalowski, which is not the original definition of odious debt. Myths and selfdeceptions about the greek debt crisis. Greeces odious3 debt the looting of the hellenic republic by the euro, the political elite and the investment community by jason manolopoulos b 376050. Okeefe, r, the doctrine of incorporation revisited 2008 79 byil 7.

Odious debt, human rights, democratic transparency, and an. Second, foreign aid to successor regimes could be made contingent on nonrepayment of odious debt. The imfs sdrmsimply disastrous rescheduling management. The concept of odious debt regroups a particular set of equitable. Eurozone debt crisis has forced member states to make some steps in the. Greece s odious debt the looting of the hellenic republic by the euro, the political elite and the investment community 1st edition by jason manolopoulos and publisher anthem press nbn. Parts iv, v, and vi will analyze the substance of the odious debt doctrine and its application to greeces situation. Debt relief, vanderbilt law and economics research paper no. Download in pdf, epub, and mobi format for read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Jason manolopoulos lends a unique perspective, based on exper. A timeline of greeces debt a sovereign debtor who has recently stepped into a media spotlight is the state of greece. The odious debt concept seeks to provide a moral and legal foundation for severing, in whole or in part, the continuity of legal obligations where the debt in question was contracted by a prior odious regime and was used in ways that were not beneficial or were harmful to the interests of. Greece hid its growing debt and deceived eu officials with the help of.

He shows conclusively that the eurozone is far from an optimum currency area. Will greece repudiate its odious debt, by al martin. The difference is that, as long as a few creditors and investors are willing to lend to and invest in a country that has refused to pay odious debt, banks know that if they disregard the sanction and issue odious debt, successor regimes will not have incentives to repay it. A onetime island in the lake was modified in ancient times into a megalithic citadel, now called gla, though its ancient name is not known. In some respects, the concept is analogous to the invalidity of contracts signed under coercion.

Jason manolopoulos combines his experience of the global. Before this note can consider greeces economic situation through the lens of the odious debt doctrine, an understanding of greeces debt crisis, especially the source and nature of greeces debt itself, is required. The eurozone crisis is an ongoing financial crisis that has made it difficult or impossible for. An excellent study both of the eurozone and of the greek case by jason manolopoulos, greeces odious debt anthem press. The looting of the hellenic republic by the euro, the political elite and the investment community anthem finance first by manolopoulos, jason isbn. If the government had contracted a debt under the following conditions. Insolvency principles and the doctrine of odious debts. Bibliography the doctrine of odious debt in international law. Jun 24, 2015 the greek parliaments truth commission on public debt has declared much of greece s 320 billion debt to be odious and illegal.

The doctrine of odious debt in international law may 2016. I also recommend declaring some of the debt owed as odious. Lee greece s odious debt the looting of the hellenic republic by the euro, the political elite and the investment community por jason manolopoulos disponible en rakuten kobo. Ebook pdf greeces odious debt the looting of the hellenic republic by the euro the political elite and the investment community anthem finance document other than just manuals as we also make available many user guides, specifications documents, promotional details, setup documents and more. Controversies surrounding the eurozone crisis wikipedia. Part iv will first introduce the fundamental problems of the odious debt doctrineits doctrinal deficiencies and administrative shortcomingsshowing how the doctrine fails as a workable rule.

Mar 01, 2003 odious debt contracts, in other words, could be made legally unenforceable. Part iii will introduce the doctrine of odious debts by presenting the doctrines elements, underlying principles, and history of use. Avoiding the externalities of a functional odious debt doctrine 2008 49 harvard intl lj 109. These findings counsel against the use of the doctrine altogether. This book analyses the causes of the current eurozone and greek crisis. Ginsburgulen, odious debt, odious credit, economic development, and democratization, illinois law and economics research paper no. More generally, any adjudicating body that had the power to declare debt void might nullify legitimate debt if it placed a high.