George Chouliarakis

George Chouliarakis
Γιώργος Χουλιαράκης
Minister of Finance
In office 28 August 2015 – 23 September 2015
Prime Minister	Vassiliki Thanou-Christophilou
Preceded by	Euclid Tsakalotos
Succeeded by	Euclid Tsakalotos
Alternate Minister of Finance
Incumbent
Assumed office 23 September 2015
Prime Minister	Alexis Tsipras
Personal details
Born	Iasmos, Greece[1]
Political party	Independent
Alma mater	University of Athens University of London University of Warwick
Academic career
Institutions	University of Essex University of Warwick University of Manchester
Field	Macroeconomics Economic history Labour economics

George Chouliarakis (Greek: Γιώργος Χουλιαράκης), also transliterated as Giorgos Houliarakis, is a Greek academic and politician who is currently an Alternate Minister of Finance in the Second Cabinet of Alexis Tsipras, serving under Euclid Tsakalotos. Houliarakis was formerly the interim Minister of Finance in the Greek caretaker government led by Vassiliki Thanou-Christophilou.

He is currently a lecturer in economics at the University of Manchester, and was also the chief negotiator for the Greek government in the run-up to the third bailout package.

Education

Chouliarakis studied economics at the University of Athens, before completing a Master's degree at the University of London. He later completed his PhD in economics at the University of Warwick.^[2]

Academic career

Chouliarakis has taught economics at the University of Essex, and has been a research fellow at the Institute for Employment Research of the University of Warwick. He is currently the Jean Monnet Lecturer in European Economic Integration at the University of Manchester. He is also a visiting scholar at the Bank of Greece and a fellow of the Euro Area Business Cycle Network.^[2]

His research interests include macroeconomics, economic history, labour economics, international macroeconomics and the macroeconomics of monetary unions.^[2]

Political career

Chouliarakis has served as Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers (SOE), and in this capacity has accompanied ministers, such as Euclid Tsakalotos, to meetings in Brussels.^[3] He has also been described as an "ally" of the Deputy Prime Minister of Greece, Yannis Dragasakis.^[4]

In late April 2015, Chouliarakis was brought in as the chief Greek negotiator in the team negotiating the terms of the third bailout package. He replaced Nicholas Theocarakis, who was considered an ally of Yanis Varoufakis. Chouliarakis was praised by Thomas Weisen, the president of the EU's Economic and Financial Committee, as being a "gifted negotiator".^[5] He has been called "the invisible negotiator" by some of the Athens media due to being notoriously media-shy.^[6] The Wall Street Journal described him as a "constructive interlocutor".^[7]

On 28 August 2015, Chouliarakis was sworn in as the interim Minister of Finance in the Caretaker Cabinet of Vassiliki Thanou-Christophilou, replacing Euclid Tsakalotos. His appointment was praised by Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the president of the Eurogroup, who said: "[Chouliarakis] knows what he's doing because he was top man in the ministry for the past year and half." Tsakalotos also praised his successor, saying: "I am certain that with his work, as always, and with his devotion to the public good it would be difficult to think of a better interim finance minister, someone who loves what he does and does it very well."^[6]

Following the September legislative election and the formation of the second Tsipras cabinet, Chouliarakis was re-appointed to the Ministry of Finance as an Alternate Minister of Finance, serving under Tsakalotos as Minister of Finance. His responsibilities included overseeing the national accounts office, "a post seen as critical to achieving the ambitious fiscal targets set by the bailout programme" according to the Financial Times.^[8]

Article and papers

• "Deja vu? The Greek crisis experience, the 2010s versus the 1930s. Lessons from history" (with Sophia Lazaretou, Working Paper, Bank of Greece, No. 176, February 2014) PDF
• "A fair wage model of unemployment with inertia in fairness perceptions" (with Mónica Correa-López, Oxford Economic Papers, 2012)
• "Monetary institutions, imperfect competition and employment outcomes" (with Mónica Correa-López, The North-American Journal of Economics and Finance, Volume 22, Issue 2, pp. 131-148, 2011)
• "Business cycle synchronization since 1880" (with Michael Artis and P. K. G. Harischandra, The Manchester School, Volume 72, Issue 2, pp. 173-207, 2011) PDF
• "Do exchange rate regimes matter for inflation persistence?" (with P. K. G. Harischandra, Theory and Evidence from the History of UK and US Inflation, 2008) PDF
• "Catching-up, then falling behind: Comparative productivity growth between Spain and the United Kingdom, 1950-2004" (with Mónica Correa-López, Centre for Growth and Business Cycle Research Discussion Paper Series, University of Manchester, No. 131, 2009) PDF

References: ^[9]

See also

• Greek government-debt crisis

References

1. Transitional Government with Thrace perfume, newspaper Chronos, 29 August 2015
2. "Dr George Chouliarakis - personal details". University of Manchester. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
3. "Tsakalotos and Houliarakis to attend Brussels Group talks on Monday". To Vima. 8 June 2015. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
4. Smith, Helena; Traynor, Ian (28 April 2015). "Greek finance minister denies being sidelined from debt talks". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
5. Papadimitriou, Yanis (28 April 2015). "Changes in latitude, changes in attitude". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
6. Maltezou, Renee (31 August 2015). "Greece's 'invisible negotiator' may assuage bailout fears in election run-up". Reuters. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
7. Bouras, Stelios (28 August 2015). "Greece Names George Chouliarakis Interim Finance Minister". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
8. Hope, Kerin (23 September 2015). "Tsipras appoints top negotiators to new cabinet". Financial Times. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
9. "George Chouliarakis - Publications". Research Gate. Retrieved 17 October 2015.