The Economist (October 7)
If Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy “thought that cracking heads would put a stop to secessionism, he could not have been more wrong. He has only created a stand-off that has energised his enemies and shocked his friends.” Rajoy’s reaction “has thrown Spain into its worst constitutional crisis since an attempted coup in 1981…. Only a negotiation can restore calm and it should start immediately.”
Tags: Calm, Constitutional crisis, Coup, Enemies, Negotiation, Rajoy, Secession, Spain, Stand-off, Wrong
Wall Street Journal (September 10)
“Mario Draghi laid out the European Central Bank’s latest bond-buying venture Thursday, and we suppose the good news is that it isn’t as sweeping as it might have been.” Still, it amounts to “another giant step into fiscal policy. This is far from the original vision of the euro, and the costs to the central bank’s political independence will be steep.” Furthermore, the benefits are marginal. “At best, the new program will give Messrs. Monti and Rajoy more time to promote the reforms in labor markets, taxation and other things their countries so desperately need to grow again.”
Tags: Bond-buying, ECB, euro, Fiscal policy, Italy, Mario Draghi, Monti, Rajoy, Spain
Financial Times (April 27)
The Spanish people were willing to suffer austerity when Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy “sent the people of Spain a message of hope for the future.” Now the hope is gone and “Mr Rajoy finds himself in an impossible situation. For all the talk of European solidarity, the EU has insisted that his deficit-reduction plan should proceed at an excessive pace. This was bound to trigger a popular backlash.” A similar backlash is rising up in Italy and the Netherlands. “Citizens may have been favourable to their initial message of austerity for a higher cause, but they will not tolerate being led into a dead-end.”
Tags: Austerity, Deficit reduction, EU, Italy, Netherlands, Rajoy, Spain
