Elliott Endorses Euro Debt Conference
The London Guardian‘s economics editor Larry Elliott has come out in support for the type of London 1953 debt conference that relieved much of Germany’s postwar debt, as a model solution for Greece’s debt crisis. Posted yesterday afternoon on the Guardian online site, under the headline, “What Was Good for Germany in 1953, Is Good for Greece in 2015,” Elliott writes that Germany and Europe both benefited not only from the Marshall Plan aid, but also the London Debt Conference which unleashed the German economic miracle. After discussing the Marshall Plan aid, Elliott continues:
“Writing in the Economist magazine in 2012, Albrecht Ritschl, a professor of economic history at [London School of Econmics] LSE, said: ‘The Marshall plan had an outer shell, the European recovery program, and an inner core, the economic reconstruction of Europe on the basis of debt forgiveness to and trade integration with Germany. The effects of its implementation were huge. While western Europe in the 1950s struggled with debt/GDP ratios close to 200%, the new West German state enjoyed debt/GDP ratios of less than 20%. This and its forced re-entry into Europe’s markets was Germany’s true benefit from the Marshall Plan.’
“In the days to come, the Greek Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras, will be arguing that was good for Germany in 1953 would be good for Greece in 2015.”
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