Drexel University’s Dr. George Tsetsekos, a native of Greece and dean of the University’s LeBow College of Business, is available to comment on the economic turmoil in Greece and what it means for the future of the euro and European Union, as well as how it affects the United States.
Tsetsekos earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the National Technical University of Athens before earning an MBA and Ph.D in finance from U.S. universities.
“The eurozone countries have been trying to run a marathon on only one leg,” Tsetsekos says. “They have to do something to bring the monetary and fiscal policies of member nations into sync with one another.”
How does Tsetsekos see this playing out? There are two likely scenarios, he says.
- One, the eurozone is split in two with two different currencies, one for the countries that maintain budget deficits no greater than three percent of gross domestic product; the other, for those nations that have large debts.
- Two, Greek exits the eurozone – in a manner that’s perceived as voluntary, even if it’s not – returns to its previous currency, the drachma, is on its own to put its fiscal house in order.
Tsetsekos’ area of expertise includes valuation and corporate restructuring, treasury and risk/hedging operations, investment banking, securitization, emerging capital markets, multinational finance and bank asset-liability management. Tsetsekos is the author of numerous publications and papers including “Lesson in Structuring Derivatives Exchanges” (with P.Varangis) for The World Bank Research Observer (2000).