Dani Rodrik explains why a Greek euro exit isn't a solution for anyone

By Xenia Kounalaki

Turkish economist Dani Rodrik, formerly a professor at Harvard and currently an Albert O. Hirschman professor of social sciences at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, has coined the phrase "the inescapable trilemma of the world economy." According to this theory, "democracy, national sovereignty and global economic integration are mutually incompatible: we can combine any two of the three but never have all three simultaneously and in full." The theory appears to perfectly suit the current eurozone debt crisis.

On the occasion of his interesting take on Greece in a recent piece he did for Project Syndicate, Rodrik responded to some written questions from Kathimerini.

The official government response to the German request to "show us the alternative sources of revenue" is: "People are more than numbers." As an economist, what do you make of such statements? Do you think that the deadlock is caused by a cultural clash between Greece and Germany?

It seems to me that the Greek government is trying to leverage its position by trying to appeal to the broader European public over the heads of the troika: it seems to be saying "we are the legitimate elected government of Greece, people have voted for us, you have to listen to democracy's voice, otherwise you too can be one day the victim of misrule by heartless technocrats." The German government is naturally uncomfortable about what they see as political grandstanding. For me as an economist, SYRIZA's attitude makes perfect sense, but it also needs to be backed up by a credible economic program obviously.

In your Project Syndicate article you suggest that the Grexit threat on behalf of Greece is only...

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