Financial Times (October 27)
The news from the European summit was encouraging, yet “comprehensive solutions” have been announced before only to fall flat. European leaders still have to get “the scaffolding needed to hold their crisis management strategy together.” They must completely vanquish the financial crisis if they hope to shape Europe’s future by binding “the eurozone’s economies and governance systems much tighter together.”
Tags: Comprehensive solution, eurozone, Summit
Washington Post (September 17)
A “bank run” mentality has resurfaced in Europe. With trust waning, the short term depends on the European Central Bank (ECB), which has stepped in as the lender of last resort. In the long term, “true stabilization is going to mean rewriting the premises of European unity, and the social contract itself.” This process “will take many years to strike a new balance — to organize what amounts to a managed bankruptcy for the eurozone and the beginnings of a recapitalization.”
The Independent (July 13)
“The nightmare of full eurozone contagion appears to have moved a step closer.” Yet policymakers remain in denial. Until they leave this denial behind, attempts to tackle collapse will remain elusive. European leaders must realize the debt crisis essentially renders many European banks insolvent, it is nearly impossible for indebted countries on the periphery to grow themselves out of crisis while hedged in by the common currency and, lastly, that the eurozone could indeed crumble.
Tags: Banks, Contagion, eurozone, Policymakers
Financial Times (June 13)
Since inception, divergence between the European political and monetary union has been an issue. When times were good and interest rates low, the issue could be ignored. Now the Eurozone crisis has set the stage for the once unthinkable. Economist Nouriel Roubini asserts, “the euro will move towards disorderly debt workouts, and eventually a break-up of the monetary union itself, as some of the weaker members crash out.”
Tags: Debt workouts, eurozone, Monetary breakup, Roubini
Financial Times (May 16)
The euro has touched an 18-month low against the dollar. Mourning this weakness, some Europeans hope the euro rapidly regains strength. The Financial Times calls this thinking wrongheaded. “A weaker euro would now be a blessing for the eurozone.” By making the region’s exports cheaper, a weak euro actually boosts the eurozone’s competitiveness.
The euro has touched an 18-month low against the dollar. Mourning this weakness, some Europeans hope the euro rapidly regains strength. The Financial Times calls this thinking wrongheaded. “A weaker euro would now be a blessing for the eurozone.” By making the region’s exports cheaper, a weak euro actually boosts the eurozone’s competitiveness.
