Economics experts to debate Greek crisis with Lords Committee

What is the current economic and political situation in Greece? What does the latest reform agreement from the Euro Summit mean? Could the Greek crisis have been avoided? How damaging would a Greek exit be to the euro area, and to the UK? Should Greece's debt simply be written off?

These are some of the questions that a panel of experts will discuss with the House of Lords Committee which deals with EU financial affairs, on Wednesday 15 July.

Following the agreement made this morning, Eurozone leaders have paved the way for Greece's third bailout programme. The agreement includes proposals to scale up Greece's privatisation programme, as well as modifications to the Greek administration and the adoption of product market, pension and labour reforms.

The seminar will take the form of a free-flowing discussion with the Committee, and areas which are likely to be covered include:

• The reforms needed for Greece to stay in the euro;
• The recent referendum in Greece and its impact on current negotiations;
• The state of Greece's banking system;
• The major mistakes made by both the Greek Government and the Troika over the past 5 years, and whether the crisis in Greece could have been avoided;
• The implications of a Grexit for the euro area, and beyond;
• Debt forgiveness and restructuring;
• The role of the ECB; and
• Potential impact on the UK.

The full list of confirmed experts are as follows:

Professor Charles Goodhart, London School of Economics
Dr Spyros Economides, London School of Economics
Professor Rosa María Lastra, Queen Mary University of London
Professor Richard Portes, London Business School
Dr Holger Schmieding, Chief Economist at Berenberg Bank
Roger Bootle, Economist and Managing Director at Capital Economics

The seminar will take place at 10.15am on Wednesday 15th July in Committee room 2A of the House of Lords.