Jump to content

Georgios Alogoskoufis

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Eideasman (talk | contribs) at 13:05, 4 May 2020 (→‎Criticism). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Georgios Alogoskoufis
Γιώργος Αλογοσκούφης
Minister of the Economy and Finance
In office
10 March 2004 – 8 January 2009
Prime MinisterKostas Karamanlis
Preceded byNikos Christodoulakis
Succeeded byYannis Papathanasiou
Personal details
Born (1955-10-17) 17 October 1955 (age 68)
Athens, Greece
Political partyNew Democracy
SpouseDika Agapitidou
Alma materUniversity of Athens
London School of Economics
WebsiteOfficial website

Georgios Alogoskoufis (Greek: Γιώργος Αλογοσκούφης) (born 17 October 1955[1]) is a professor of economics at the Athens University of Economics and Business since 1990. He was a member of the Hellenic Parliament from September 1996 till October 2009 and served as Greece's Minister of Economy and Finance from March 2004 till January 2009.

During 2004–2008 Greece's economic performance seemed extremely positive. The average growth rate was 4% per annum, unemployment fell from 10.5% in 2004 to 7.7% in 2008 just changing the way of measuring it, and public debt increased from 180 bil euro to 300 bil euro. Alogoskoufis initiated a number of policy reforms, such as the simplification of the Greek tax system such as revoking inheritance taxes for rich people, extensive privatisations, create 700 new government institutions to hire more people to the public section, export promotion, public/private partnerships etc. His supporters point out that problems for the Greek economy appeared after Alogoskoufis was replaced as minister, at the end of 2008, and especially after the change in government in October 2010. These problems appeared because of structural weaknesses in the Greek economy, such as the high public debt that was accumulated during the 1980s, the financial crisis and the partial reversal of the policies that Alogoskoufis pursued, by his successors.[2]

Background, academic and political career

George Alogoskoufis was born in Athens on 17 October 1955.[1]

The economic policy mix applied under the leadership of Alogoskoufis

In the period in which Alogoskoufis served as the minister for Economy and Finance, he actuated a series of economic structural reforms and fiscal adjustment to contain budget deficits, which, although unpopular, have managed to slash Greece's high 2004 budget deficit. In the same period of time, Greece's gross domestic product has grown by one of the highest growth rates in the Eurozone. Unemployment also fell significantly.[3][4][5]

During 2004–2007, marginal corporate and personal income taxes were reduced.[6] He worked extensively with the private sector [7] and sold over euro 6 billion of government holdings.[8]

Criticism

George Alogoskoufis was pelted with eggs by Greek left wing activists at a meeting held at the London School of Economics on 14 November 2008. The activists threw the eggs as a protest against the Greek government.[1]

Publications

Alogoskoufis is the author of five books and has published widely in macroeconomics, international monetary economics and public economics.

Over 40 papers have been published in some of the most prestigious international academic journals including the American Economic Review, the Journal of Political Economy, the Journal of Monetary Economics, the European Economic Review, Economica, the Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Economic Journal and the Economic Policy. His research focuses on unemployment, inflation, exchange rates, economic growth and monetary and fiscal policy.

He has given invited lectures in some of the most prestigious universities in Europe, the US and Japan and has presented papers in a number of academic conferences worldwide.

Books

“External Constraints on Macroeconomic Policy: The European Experience” (with Lucas Papademos and Richard Portes), Centre for Economic Policy Research, 1991.

“The crisis of economic policy”, Published by Kritiki Publications and the Athens Institute of Economic Policy Studies, Athens, 1994 (in Greek).

“Unemployment: Choices for Europe, Monitoring European Integration 5” (with Charles Bean, Giuseppe Bertola, Daniel Cohen, Juan Dolado, Gilles Saint-Paul), Centre for Economic Policy Research, 1995.

“The Drachma: From the Phoenix to the Euro” (with Sophia Lazaretou), Published by Livanis Publishing House, 2002 (in Greek).

“Greece after the crisis”, Kastaniotis Publications, 2009 (in Greek).

Publications in academic journals

The following is a selected list of journal articles by Alogoskoufis.[9]

Awards and honorary distinctions

His PhD thesis was awarded the R. S. Sayers Prize of the London University for 1981. His book, "The Drachma: From the Phoenix to the Euro", was awarded the prize of the Academy of Athens in 2002.

References

  1. ^ a b Curriculum Vitae Archived 2007-03-11 at the Wayback Machine at Hellenic Parliament website.
  2. ^ "Data of the EU Parliament".
  3. ^ "The Minister of Sound" Article about G. Alogoskoufis in the Belgian newspaper European Voice, published by the Economist Group.
  4. ^ "Rising prosperity brings feel-good factor"[permanent dead link] Article in the Financial Times on the Greek economy.
  5. ^ "With little fanfare, Greece has become one of Europe's best-performing economies and stock markets" Article in Forbes on the Greek economy.
  6. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-03-28. Retrieved 2008-03-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Corporate and personal income taxes reduction
  7. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-04-14. Retrieved 2008-03-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) List of PuPlic Private Partnership projects
  8. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-04-14. Retrieved 2008-03-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Table of Privatization revenues
  9. ^ "Profile: George Alogoskoufis, publications". alogoskoufis.gr. George Alogoskoufis. Archived from the original on 8 February 2012.
Political offices
Preceded by Minister of the Economy and Finance
2004–2009 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Georgios_Alogoskoufis&oldid=954816552"