The thrust of his argument, which was also made by Willem Buiter last autumn, is that the Greek programme doesn't add up.

BBC: Greece: the default calculus

Willem Buiter, a former chief economist at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, thinks some would do better to adopt the euro unilaterally.

ECONOMIST: The east Europeans swap one economic problem for another

Willem Buiter at the London School of Economics is not convinced.

ECONOMIST: The financial crisis has made the euro look more alluring

Willem Buiter, a former member of the bank's Monetary Policy Committee, reckons the logjam in money markets is already raising mortgage costs and choking off corporate lending.

ECONOMIST: British banks

Willem Buiter of the London School of Economics has argued in the past that when house prices fluctuate, there are both winners and losers, but no net wealth effect.

ECONOMIST: House prices and the wealth effect

On the other hand, says Willem Buiter, chief economist of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, capital flows into these economies as they adopt the euro might increase inflationary pressures pushing inflation above the Maastricht targets.

ECONOMIST: Some EU candidates favour an early move to the euro

As Willem Buiter pointed out recently, these officials and politicians worry deeply about the message that is being sent to other members of the club - if a country can repeatedly miss its targets and yet still qualify for support.

BBC: Greece: Costing the exit

Willem Buiter is another.

BBC: On markets and helicopters

After he published his 1999 report, Otmar Issing, then an influential ECB member, countered Mr. Buiter's skepticism with his own report called "Willem in Wonderland".

WSJ: Citi's Provocateur in Residence