Press quotes

  • China's new silk road into Europe
    The Telegraph, 04 July 2010

    But Katinka Barysch, deputy director of the Centre for European Reform, says that it was unlikely the Chinese investment in Greece will be of such a "vulture" nature. "The danger that Cosco will behave like some of the Chinese mining and oil companies in Africa is pretty remote … Greece is a member of the EU, so it has a much more solid legal framework.

  • EU plans budget discipline measures
    The Wall Street Journal, 01 July 2010

    Simon Tilford of the Centre for European Reform in London said the commission plan "assumes that all the imbalances can be addressed by the deficit countries." Germany must play a role too in stimulating its consumption, Mr Tilford said.

  • German austerity draws flak
    The Gazette, 25 June 2010

    Centre for European Reform chief economist Simon Tilford said in an interview yesterday that Germany isn't "giving any thought to how their austerity (and neglect of economic growth) will impact on the rest of the world."

  • It's 'America the swift' in bank reform
    New York Times, 25 June 2010

    "European policymakers are being slow, almost unforgivably slow, in making changes because of the belief that Americans were almost exclusively to blame for the crisis," said Simon Tilford, an economist at the Centre for European Reform in London. But, he said, "they also engaged in similar banking practices — there was a similar property boom here, similar excessive mortgage lending."

  • ANALYSIS - Europe tries to fill leadership void in crisis
    Reuters, 24 June 2010

    "It's clear that when it comes to a response to the eurozone crisis, Germany is managing to stamp its view on the others," said Simon Tilford, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform think tank in London. … "Unless they address the underlying issues, there could be defaults and recession," Tilford said.

  • Battered eurozone left vulnerable to crisis, warns Fitch
    The Telegraph, 21 June 2010

    "What we have seen, how markets have reacted on Greece, on other countries, and in particular rating agencies, this was done in an irresponsible way, an irresponsible way in the case of Greece," he said at a Centre for European Reform event in London.

  • What is happening in EU, eurozone politics?
    Reuters, 21 June 2010

    "They [the left] may have more flexibility on what they can offer while in opposition," said Katinka Barysch, deputy director of the CER. "But they will have the same problem as everyone else once they win elections - that there isn't any money."

  • What crisis? The eurozone adds Estonia
    New York Times, 17 June 2010

    "Joining the euro is a status issue for countries seeking to cement their position at Europe's top table," said Simon Tilford, the chief economist for the Centre for European Reform, a research organisation based in London. "But you also could call it sheer bloody-mindedness of Estonia to join now with the outlook for the currency so uncertain. … Investors will only be willing to lend to Estonia on favourable terms if Estonia can continue to compete … That is where the biggest risks for Estonia now lie."

  • Erdogan rebuffs US, insists Turkey isn't Iran ally
    Bloomberg, 17 June 2010

    Divergence from the US on Iran is "not an anti-American move, it's a pro-Turkey move that happens to benefit Iran," said Katinka Barysch, an analyst at the Centre for European Reform in London.

  • EU warned about erecting new barriers to growth
    EurActiv, 17 June 2010

    Rodrigues's criticisms were echoed by Simon Tilford, chief economist at the London-based Centre for European Reform. "The eurozone economy is not strong enough to cope with the contractionary effects of a generalised budgetary tightening. And if the eurozone falls back into recession, there will be no chance of putting public finances on a sustainable footing." Some countries with high debt or budget deficits – such as Greece, Portugal and Spain, for example – have little option but to cut spending now, Tilford said.