Andreas Georgiou

Greece is downgrading itself

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On December 19 Standard and Poor’s raised its rating of Greek sovereign debt by six notches, to B-minus from selective default. The government’s decision to prosecute a statistician indicates that the upgrade was premature. According to S&P, the ratings change “balances our view of euro-zone member states’ determination to support Greece’s euro-zone membership and the … Read more

Unfortunately, in Greece statistics is a combat sport

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The Financial Times reports that Andreas Georgiou, the head of the independent Greek statistical agency Elstat, is facing a criminal investigation for allegedly inflating the scale of the country’s fiscal crisis and “acting against the Greek national interest.” Georgiou, who worked at the International Monetary Fund for 20 years, was appointed in 2010 by agreement … Read more