Financial Times (April 30, 2013)
In the U.S., the Federal Reserve is coming under fire and a Congressional review has been proposed. While the Fed’s performance has not been perfect, “on the whole, the Fed has not done a bad job. Banks are stronger, the banking system functional and taxpayers increasingly in the money. Neither the UK, the eurozone, nor Japan can boast of the same. That has also made the Fed’s monetary policy much more efficient than in those economies, where the transmission of central bank money-printing to real-economy activity remains broken.”
Tags: Congress, eurozone, Federal Reserve, Japan, Monetary policy, U.S., UK
Euromoney (February Issue)
“The European Central bank’s announcement that 278 eurozone banks repaid €137.2 billion of their long-term refinancing operation (LTRO) borrowings on January 30 was seized upon by the market as supporting evidence for a broad range of contradictory positions….Indeed, there was a general sense of confusion after the ECB’s announcement and very little consensus emerged as to what the repayments actually meant….. Attempting to extrapolate much from the figure could turn out to be a fool’s errand.”
Financial Times (February 1)
“Europe enjoyed the first month of 2013 in a mood of relative optimism – a relief after years where one financial near-death experience followed the other. The fissile market pressures on the eurozone are slowly going into reverse, with private money leaving havens and returning to the periphery. Yet clouds continue to clump over the region’s banks. Even if the debt crisis gradually abates, Europe is far from done with cleaning up its banking system.”
Tags: Banks, Debt crisis, Europe, eurozone, Optimism
The Economist (November 17)
While focus may currently rest on the PIIGS, “ahead looms a bigger problem that could dwarf any of these: France…. too many of France’s firms are uncompetitive and the country’s bloated government is living beyond its means.” Without decisive action, “France will lose the faith of investors—and of Germany. As several euro-zone countries have found, sentiment in the markets can shift quickly. The crisis could hit as early as next year.”
Financial Times (November 16)
“This week, the consequences of the eurozone’s misguided policies were brought home to the politicians overseeing them.” Millions of workers went on strike just as the area fell back into recession. “The eurozone theology of austerity by all is doing its predictable beggar-thy-neighbour work…. This economic and political damage was caused by a wrong-headed morality tale that attributed the debt crisis to fiscal indiscipline, when in reality profligacy was a sin most promiscuously practised by private lenders and borrowers.”
Tags: Debt crisis, Economy, eurozone, Recession, Strike
Financial Times (July 8)
“If the eurozone did not exist, the world would be focused on America’s recovery problem.” With unemployment so high and Treasuries so low, Congress should be utilizing fiscal stimulus. Since they’re not going to, the Fed should step in with quantitative easing. “Last month’s jobs report confirmed that the US recovery is stalling for the third year in a row….The case is now strong enough for the Fed to embark on a QE3 asset-purchase programme at its next meeting at the end of July.”
New York Times (May 24)
“With Greece in meltdown, raising fears of cascading bank insolvencies and deepening recession, Europe’s leaders failed again this week to agree on the ambitious initiatives needed to quell the crisis.” If they don’t quickly wise up and promote growth, “the consequences could be disastrous — for their countries and the rest of the world.”
Athens News (February 11, 2012)
“Sacrificed at the altar of continued eurozone membership, Greece’s youth are paying the highest price for the politicians’ inability to implement virtually any of the reforms stipulated in the first bailout memorandum….Greece is better off in the euro than with the drachma, whatever the arguments to the contrary. But it will not be long before people in their twenties and early thirties say that enough is enough.”
Tags: Drachma, eurozone, Greece, Politicians, Youth
Financial Times (January 2)
“The commitment of member governments and, above all, of the European Central Bank to maintain the eurozone looks strong enough to keep it together for another year, at least.”
Tags: 2012, ECB, eurozone, Prediction, Survival
Wall Street Journal (November 30)
Germany is unfairly getting blamed for the Eurozone crisis. “The reality is that the Germans—along with the Dutch and the Finns—are the rare Europeans who understand that saving the euro requires more than a blank check. It requires a new political commitment to better economic policy…. Money alone won’t solve Europe’s more fundamental debt and growth problem.”
Germany is unfairly getting blamed for the Eurozone crisis. “The reality is that the Germans—along with the Dutch and the Finns—are the rare Europeans who understand that saving the euro requires more than a blank check. It requires a new political commitment to better economic policy…. Money alone won’t solve Europe’s more fundamental debt and growth problem.”
