Quick Facts
Biography
Georgios Alogoskoufis (Greek: Γιώργος Αλογοσκούφης) (born October 17, 1955) 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.
Background, academic and political career
George Alogoskoufis was born in Athens on October 17, 1955.
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 budget deficit to 2.6% of the gross domestic product. In the same period of time, Greece's gross domestic product has grown with a 4%, maintaining one of the highest growth rates in the Eurozone. Although unemployment had fallen from 11% to 9% in the period between 2004 and 2007, just changing the way of measuring it, it remains one of the highest in Europe.
During 2004–2007, corporate and personal income taxes were reduced for rich people from 45% to 40% and increased for poor people from 12% to 29% and the tax system was simplified with the tax reform such as revoking inheritance taxes for rich people. He worked extensively with the private sectorand sold over euro 6 billion of government holdings.
Criticism
Alogoskoufis made a decision to revise GDP upward by 25 percent and was heavily criticized by television network CNN and EU accepted a lower revise.Greek GDP revision was part of the annual catalog of 101 Dumbest Moments in Business.[1]
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 to the current economic policy of the Greek government.[2]
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.
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Awards and honorary distinctions
His PhD. thesis was awarded the R. S. Sayers Prize of the London University for 1981. His book from the "The Drachma: From the Phoenix to the Euro", was awarded the prize of the Academy of Athens in 2002.