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Archives
Category Archives: eurozone series
Draghi: Balanced budgets to be achieved through spending cuts alone
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
Posted in article, eurozone series
Tagged ECB, euro, Mario Draghi, social democracy, supply-side
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Eurostat: Eurozone debt actually decreasing
…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
Posted in article, eurozone series
Tagged Angela Merkel, ECB, euro crisis, Germany, Italy, Jean-Claude Trichet, Mario Draghi
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German official ‘simply doesn’t understand’ rest of world
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
Eurozone, the Unravelling (III): The Fake Jobs & Growth Plan
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
Posted in article, eurozone series
Tagged Angela Merkel, ECB, eurozone crisis, recession, unemployment, Yes Minister
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Europe on Autopilot: How Krugman predicted the euro-mess in… 1998
I came across a December 1998 article in Fortune magazine by the indomitable Liberal economist and Nobel prize winner in which he takes a critical look at the monetary union the Europeans were creating. It’s quite amazing how much has not changed … Continue reading
Posted in essay, eurozone series
Tagged ECB, Eurozone, France, Germany, Paul Krugman, subtlety
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Eurozone, the Unraveling (II): EU/euro support collapses across entire continent
One of the great underreported stories of the eurozone crisis has been the incredible damage it has done to the reputation of Europe, the EU and indeed the European ideal itself. This has occurred independent of the country in question’s … Continue reading
Eurozone, the Unraveling (I): A recession for Christmas
We’ve reached a new stage in EU history: the most significant exercise in federalism – the euro – has in its current form caused a double-dip recession. This is a tragedy and a perfectly avoidable one at that. This slow-motion … Continue reading
ECB (finally) gets bashed in Spanish elections
The EU typically plays a minor role in Spanish electoral campaigns. However, El País reports that “the crisis has also upset this, and for the first time since the 80s, the Spanish campaign has begun with a clash between the … Continue reading
Posted in article, eurozone series
Tagged ECB, euro, Mario Draghi, Spain, unemployment
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Eurozone chair: “I’m for secret, dark debates”
Jean-Claude Juncker, the decades-long Prime Minister of Luxembourg and current president of the Eurogroup (the meetings of the Eurozone’s finance ministers) has decided to set aside the langue de bois. EUobserver reports him complaining that open debate on monetary policy tended … Continue reading
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Trichet’s troubling interest rate hike
So Jean-Claude Trichet, head of the European Central Bank, has decided to raise the Eurozone’s main interest rate for lending from 1% to 1.25%. The last increase was back in July 2008. Hikes to 1.75% are expected by the end … Continue reading
Posted in article, eurozone series
Tagged euro, Germany, Jean-Claude Trichet, PIIGS, recession, unemployment
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Letters from Europe 