Thanos Poulakis | Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (original) (raw)

Conference Presentations by Thanos Poulakis

H πολιτική οικονομία της Επταετίας 1967-1974, 2017

Εισαγωγή : Η Οικονομική Φιλοσοφία της Δικτατορίας Μελετώντας το «Πρόγραμμα Οικονομικής Αναπτύξεως... more Εισαγωγή : Η Οικονομική Φιλοσοφία της Δικτατορίας Μελετώντας το «Πρόγραμμα Οικονομικής Αναπτύξεως της Ελλάδος, 1968-1972» πληροφορούμαστε για την οικονομική φιλοσοφία της Δικτατορίας 1. Ο Γ.Γ. του Υπ. Συντονισμού και Πρόεδρος της Κεντρικής Επιτροπής Επεξεργασίας Προγράμματος Κ. Θάνος γράφει πως: «Το παρόν πρόγραμμα είναι κατ εξοχήν ενδεικτικόν δια τον ιδιωτικόν τομέα της οικονομίας. Τούτο είναι απολύτως δικαιολογημένον, καθόσον η αποτελεσματική λειτουργία των ελεύθερων οικονομικών θεσμών αποτελεί-τούτο άλλωστε προκύτπει και εκ της εμπειρίας του παρελθόντος-το καταλληλότερον μέσον προωθήσεως της οικονομικής ανάπτυξης της χώρας… 2 ». Στην συνέχεια συμπληρώνει χαρακτηριστικά: «ο αυστηρός και λεπτομερής σχεδιασμός των δημόσιων και ιδιωτικών φορέων αντιβαίνει προς την γενικοτέραν φιλοσοφικήν τοποθέτησιν της Κυβερνήσεως όσον και προς το καλόν νοούμενον συμφέρον της Χώρας…. Είναι ένα πρόγραμμα εκσυγχρονισμού…. Πράγματι το σύνολον σχεδόν των προβλεπόμενων μέτρων πολιτικής και θεσμικών μεταρυθμίσεων αποσκοπεί εις την απελέυθερωσην των δυνάμεων του υγειούς ανταγωνισμού και την ενίσχυσιν του ρυθμιστικού ρόλου των τιμών εις την κατανομή των οικονομικών πόρων». 3 Στο ίδιο πνεύμα ο Υπ. Συντονισμού Ν. Μακαρέζος αναφέρει πως το πρόγραμμα : «βασίζεται εις την ενίσχυσιν του ρόλου της ιδιωτικής πρωτοβουλίας και την αποτελεσματικωτέραν λειτουργίαν των ελέυθερων οικονομικών θεσμών 4 ». Μπορούμε συνεπώς να εξάγουμε ορισμένα χρήσιμα συμπεράσματα. Η Στρατιωτική Δικτατορία φαίνεται απόλυτα προσηλωμένη στις αρχές της ελεύθερης αγοράς και υποστηρίζει την αδέσμευτη από το κράτος ιδιωτική πρωτοβουλία. Το οικονομικό επιτελείο της Δικτατορίας, δεν βλέπει καμιά αντίφαση μεταξύ της οικονομικής και της πολιτικής του φιλοσοφίας. Οι αρχές της ελεύθερης αγοράς ταιριάζουν, στο «διανοητικό σύμπαν» των Πραξικοπηματιών, με το «αποφασίζομεν και διατάσωμεν» και την παντελή έλλειψη πολιτικού φιλελευθερισμού. Βασικό στοιχείο του προγράμματος, είναι ο «εκσυγχρονιστικός» του χαρακτήρας που επιδιώκει να «απελευθερώσει» τις

Unemployment in the Greek economy: problem or necessary condition, 2015

The objective of this paper is to present and evaluate the interpretative capacity of the three b... more The objective of this paper is to present and evaluate the interpretative capacity of the three basic models of economic science ,which have been developed to understand the causes of unemployment. The present paper consists of two parts; the theoretical presentation of the three dominant schools of thought in economic science (Neoclassical-Keynesian-Marxist) and the empirical (econometric) analysis, which explores the explanatory power of the aforemen-tioned approaches of unemployment based on the data of the Greek economy. The first section initially presents the orthodox neoclassical model,. Then the Keynesian model is outlined ,. Finally Marx's approach is presented. In the second part the interpretative capacity of the above approaches is evaluated. Three different econometric models are estimated, one for each approach, using data of the Greek economy. At the end of the paper an analysis of the results from the empirical part is displayed.

Germany is considered by many as the leading economy in the European Union (EU), the economy that... more Germany is considered by many as the leading economy in the European Union (EU), the economy that not only presents a relatively large growth rate, but also serves as a leading figure for the European countries. The positive intertemporal trade balance it has, is yet another interesting element for economic research ; it is the main proof as for the status Germany has among the countries of EU, but also the major case in favour of those theories posing Germany as the developed metropolis over an underdeveloped European-South periphery. The present work focuses on the structural change presented in the production of the German economy from its unification at 1989/1990 until the present crisis in the EU as a form of understanding the trade relationships Germany has established and how have they changed through the years. The study of those structural changes will be based on the temporal evolution of the technical coefficients of the German economy, taken from input-output tables from 1990. The same research will also be conducted for France, since it can be considered the second leading European economy, and consequently it will appear as a sufficient comparison to Germany. The study will be accompanied by a presentation of the historical and geopolitical status of Germany.

Thesis Chapters by Thanos Poulakis

Η ΥΠΟΤΙΜΗΣΗ ΕΝΟΣ ΝΟΜΙΣΜΑΤΟΣ ΩΣ ΕΡΓΑΛΕΙΟ ΠΟΛΙΤΙΚΗΣ. Η ΠΕΡΙΠΤΩΣΗ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΑΣ., 2019

Βασικός στόχος της παρούσας εργασίας είναι η ανάδειξη της υποτίμηση ενός νομίσματος ως εργαλείο ο... more Βασικός στόχος της παρούσας εργασίας είναι η ανάδειξη της υποτίμηση ενός
νομίσματος ως εργαλείο οικονομικής πολιτικής. Υπό αυτό το πρίσμα, πραγματοποιεί-
ται εκτενής βιβλιογραφική επισκόπηση, ώστε να παρουσιαστούν κυρίαρχες προσεγ-
γίσεις και υποδείγματα που εξετάζουν τα αποτελέσματα μιας νομισματικής υποτίμη-
σης. Εν συνεχεία, βάσει της πρότερης ανάλυσης, παρατίθενται οι δίαυλοι μέσω των
οποίων διαχέονται οι επιδράσεις της υποτίμησης στην οικονομία. Παράλληλα, ση-
μείο ενδιαφέροντος στην παρούσα εργασία, αποτελεί η πρόβλεψη των πραγματικών
μακροχρόνιων συναλλαγματικών ισοτιμιών. Έτσι παρουσιάζεται η βασική κριτική
που έχει ασκηθεί στα συμβατικά μοντέλα πρόβλεψης, καθώς και η κλασική προσέγ-
γιση, ως αντιπρόταση, όπως διατυπώθηκε από τον Α. Shaikh. Το μεγαλύτερο τμήμα
της εργασίας όμως, εστιάζει στη μελέτη της ελληνικής οικονομίας. Η μελέτη της πε-
ρίπτωσης της Ελλάδας εναρμονίζεται πλήρως με το βασικό ερευνητικό ερώτημα. Ξε-
φεύγοντας από μια στείρα γεγονοτολογική και αποσπασματική αφήγηση, ανατέμνε-
ται η οικονομική ιστορία της περιόδου 1944-1989, δίνοντας ιδιαίτερη έμφαση στις
πραγματοποιηθείσες υποτιμήσεις. Συγχρόνως, φωτίζεται το πως η ελληνική οικονο-
μία ανταποκρινόταν στο διεθνή ανταγωνισμό, τόσο εντός ενός καθεστώτος σταθε-
ρών συναλλαγματικών ισοτιμιών, όπως το Bretton Woods, όσο και υπό καθεστώς ε-
λεύθερα κυμαινόμενων συναλλαγματικών ισοτιμιών.

The main purpose of the present work is to show how the devaluation of a
currency can be used as an economic policy tool. Under this light, an extended litera-
ture review is carried out, in order to present the dominant approaches and models
that examine the results of a currency devaluation. Afterwards, according to the prior
analysis, the channels by which the effects of a devaluation spread on the economy
are exposed. At the same time, another point of interest in this research is the forecast
of the real long-run exchange rates. As a result, the dominant critique on the conven-
tional forecasting models is presented, along with the alternative theory of exchange
rates, as proposed by A. Shaikh. However, the largest part of the thesis focuses on the
study of the Greek economy. The examination of the Greek case is aligned completely
to the fundamental question posed by the thesis. Escaping a fragmented and abridged
narration, the economic history of the 1944-1989 period is thoroughly examined, em-
phasizing on the applied devaluations. Simultaneously, the responses of the Greek
economy to the international competition, both in the regimes of constant exchange
rates, including the Bretton Woods system, and in the floating exchange rates regimes,
are illuminated.

Books by Thanos Poulakis

Impacts of COVID-19 on Societies and Economies, 2021

Undoubtedly the pandemic of COVID-19, caused by the SARS-COV-2 virus, has put Healthcare Systems,... more Undoubtedly the pandemic of COVID-19, caused by the SARS-COV-2 virus, has put Healthcare Systems, and the study of health policies and economics, at the center of interest. The health crisis, at the same time, highlighted the vital need to protect Public Health, the adequacy of medicines and, of course, material infrastructure such as hospitals, ICUs beds, etc. Therefore, the coronavirus pandemic, demonstrated the bad situation in which the Greek National Healthcare System has found itself. Greece in 2009-10, entered one of the most serious and more lasting socioeconomic crises in contemporary history. The latest situation, which was intensified by the fiscal adjustment programs issued by the EU-ECB-ΙMF, caused, among other things, loss of almost 1/4 of the country's GDP, persistent unemployment, disintegration of the productive structure and partial collapse of the welfare state. In this paper, we will make a brief analysis of the "effects" of the economic crisis on the National Healthcare System of Greece. In addition, we will examine how the crisis and austerity policies have affected household health spending, key health indicators and citizens' access to health services. Then we seek to show, how the Greek Health System, as well as all stakeholders, responded to the pandemic especially to the first two pandemic waves.

Papers by Thanos Poulakis

Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 2024

This paper examines the sustainability of the current account balances for three leading economie... more This paper examines the sustainability of the current account balances for three leading economies that play significant roles in global financial and geopolitical developments: Using the concept of sustainability as the ability of an economy to meet its long-term intertemporal budget constraint, the analysis evaluates whether the current accounts of these three economies can maintain this condition without requiring substantial policy interventions or significant changes in private sector behavior. The stationarity of the current account is considered a sufficient condition for testing the sustainability of the current account balance. However, it is argued that the common assumption of a linear process for the current account under the alternative hypothesis of stationarity may not accurately reflect reality, as the current account may exhibit non-linear behavior. Therefore, both linear and non-linear unit root tests are employed to investigate current account sustainability. The results of the unit root tests indicate that the current account balances of Germany, China, and the United States are unsustainable. These findings have significant implications for the economic stability and policy direction of these major economies.

Bulletin of Political Economy, vol. 15(1), pages 69-91, 2022

This paper addresses the issue of unemployment in Greek economy from a Marxist perspective. Speci... more This paper addresses the issue of unemployment in Greek economy from a Marxist perspective. Specifically, we focus on analysing the structure of the Greek labour market with respect to the results of the memoranda and their relation to the current phase of capital accumulation. Rejecting the orthodox approaches to measuring and analysing unemployment, we first turn our focus to three indicators that are proposed by the BLS, calculating them in the case of the Greek labour market. Then, the three categories of stagnant, conjectural and latent reserve army are presented and respective unemployment rates are calculated for the Greek economy. Our conclusion is that the Marxian categories, not only capture the real dimension and size of the labour market, but they also contain information about changes in the labour force, that are not easily considered through the official indices.

Investigación Económica

This paper contributes to the literature on determining the real exchange rates by developing a m... more This paper contributes to the literature on determining the real exchange rates by developing a model that is based on key propositions of the classical political economy within which the real competition governs domestic and international trade, the labor theory of value is underneath domestic and international prices and, under these conditions, the principle of absolute cost advantage shapes international trade. The econometric analysis shows that the relative real unit labor cost is a key regulator of the long-run behavior of real exchange rates in both, China and the USA, for the period 1982-2018.

International Review of Applied Economics , 2023

The article examines the long-run behaviour of real exchange rates based on the premises of class... more The article examines the long-run behaviour of real exchange rates based on the premises of classical political economy. Specifically, it investigates the dynamics between real exchange rates and real unit labour costs of tradable commodities for 18 developed and developing economies. The analysis is carried out by applying recent methods of panel data, while the short- and long-run dynamics are estimated based on the cross-sectional autoregressive distributed lag model. Our findings confirm the presence of short- and long-run effects of real unit labour costs on real exchange rates. Consequently, new and more effective foreign exchange rate policies may be designed.

Input Output Structural Decomposition Analysis of German Economy during Euro Era: A Critical Appraisal, 2022

Germany has one of the strongest economies in the world, recording impressive performance in inte... more Germany has one of the strongest economies in the world, recording impressive performance in international trade, especially in industrial goods. The growth of the German economy in general and persistent German trade surpluses in particular have been the subject of extensive research. In the present paper, in our turn, we will try to decipher the key factors of German success story, in order to give a holistic and in-depth interpretation. To achieve the above goal, in the empirical part of our research we use the German input-output tables and apply the structural decomposition analysis. The period to be considered empirically extends from 2000 to 2014.