Book Reviews - Greece, Financialization and the EU: The Political Economy of Debt and Destruction

Year 2014, Volume: 19 Issue: 2, 159 - 174, 01.07.2014

Ziya Öniş

Abstract

The over-ambitious nature of the book and the sweeping nature of some its statements also open it to criticism. For example, the link between the emerging “global fault lines” and the Greek crisis needs further elaboration to convince the sceptics. A central question that comes to mind is whether the “global” element is overplayed given the highly differential impact of the eurozone crisis, both on its Southern and Eastern periphery. How do we explain the fact that Poland has emerged quite strong from the eurozone crisis? Similarly, how do we account for the fact that countries like Spain and Italy, although deeply affected by the eurozone crisis, did not experience the same degree of collapse and disintegration as in the case of Greece? Another issue to be raised is whether the authors are too dismissive of the European integration project. We should not underestimate the enormous benefits brought upon by the process of European integration on the countries of the European periphery, especially on the path to full-membership, in terms of economic development and the consolidation of liberal democratic norms. The transformative impact of the EU has been tremendous both in Southern Europe and the Eastern Europe at different times. Even Turkey, a unique case with uncertain membership prospects, has benefited