Monthly Archives: February 2012

Draghi : L’équilibre budgétaire passe exclusivement par des réductions de dépenses

Posted on 27 February 2012 by

Mario Draghi, le président de la Banque centrale européenne, a été appelé dans le magazine Foreign Policy « L’homme ennuyeux le plus important du monde ». En effet, dans le contexte actuel de crise financière et budgétaire, la BCE est peut-être l’institution … Continue reading →

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Draghi: Balanced budgets to be achieved through spending cuts alone

Posted on 27 February 2012 by

Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, has been called “The world’s most important boring man”. Indeed, in this context of financial-fiscal fiscal crisis, there is perhaps no more powerful institution in Europe than that which he heads. Its … Continue reading →

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The Economist discovers life not fair

Posted on 18 February 2012 by

The leading magazine of the global politico-economic elite – The Economist – has an article on the recent controversy over bankers’ pay warning of “The death of meritocracy”. I guess it’s noteworthy for this normally laissez-faire capitalist publication to recognize inequality … Continue reading →

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Eurostat: Eurozone debt actually decreasing

Posted on 9 February 2012 by

…last year. Between June and September 2011, the debt of eurozone governments as a percentage of GDP fell from 87.7% to 87.4%. The recovery’s combination of GDP growth, rising revenue, and falling unemployment meant debt was falling at an annualized … Continue reading →

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Raymond Aron on Europe, Israel, and dual loyalty

Posted on 7 February 2012 by

Raymond Aron, it is no secret, is my favorite French intellectual of the twentieth century. He was not a Great Philosopher, nor did he create an all-encompassing system, but I think if one had to read one single author to … Continue reading →

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German official ‘simply doesn’t understand’ rest of world

Posted on 6 February 2012 by

Gideon Rachman of the FT has great run-down of his recent conversations with German officials and diplomats. There is considerable impatience with the Davos-led, Lagarde-Cameron-Geithner line that Germany has to throw more money at the problem, by building a bigger … Continue reading →

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Eurozone, the Unravelling (III): The Fake Jobs & Growth Plan

Posted on 3 February 2012 by

I’ve been reading Molly Ivins so I almost put “like heartless, dumb bastards” but that wasn’t quite in keeping with the style of the publication: Was it the fact that both the IMF and the World Bank warned that the … Continue reading →

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