Greek crisis

Greek Austerity or Greek Default?

Greek Austerity or Greek Default?

constantinakatsari June 28, 2015

Greece, a country with the longest democratic tradition in the world, announced a referendum. The Greek people are called to decide, whether they accept a new austerity program or not. The decision is a difficult one, not least because most of the population does not hold a PhD in economics. Well I do! And I can assure you that I also find the longwinded documents perplexing. Let me see what evidence I have in my hands. The new austerity measures follow the same recipe that created the Greek cri... »

Redundancies at the Foundation of the Hellenic World

constantinakatsari February 2, 2012

Something is rotten in the State of Greece. This time the stench comes from the Foundation of the Hellenic World, which used to promote research on Greek civilisation outside the strict borders of the modern Greek state. This private Foundation (though heavily subsidised by the government) reached its peak a decade ago, when I received my postdoctoral fellowship from them. They funded my research on the Economy of Roman Asia Minor under the guidance of Prof. Stephen Mitchell at the University of... »

Acropolis for rent!

constantinakatsari January 20, 2012

You probably already heard about the Russian magnate who offered to buy the temple of Zeus at Agrigento in Sicily. The Greek government realised this unique opportunity and decided to offer its archaeological sites for rent. First and foremost, the Acropolis will turn into a film studio for no more than 1600 euros per day. The ministry of culture makes available 117 archaeological sites, among which are Knossos, Faistos and Lindos. The person who will rent these places will have the opportunity ... »

Archaeologists in Greece are fired

constantinakatsari December 7, 2011

The debt crisis is wreaking havoc in the Archaeological Service in Greece, According to reports, a large number of senior archaeologists will be forced to retire this year. The consequences will be dire for many ongoing projects. On the whole 95 archaeologists are being removed, thus reducing the total number to 890. This action happened on top of the cancellation of all six-month contracts of junior archaeologists. Among them is Lilian Acheilara, the director of the Sixteenth Ephorate of Classi... »

Direct Democracy in Athens, ancient and modern

constantinakatsari June 1, 2011

Last night I was checking my twitter account, when the most amazing message appeared on screen. “50.000 Greeks obstructed the exits of the Greek parliament at Syntagma square and did not allow the members of the parliament to leave the building”. Similar messages continued throughout the night. Eager to find out more details on the subject I turned on the Greek tv. The silence of the traditional media was deafening. Not a single channel reported the news. In the meantime, twitter liv... »