2013

According to an account in the Financial Times last week, the latest rate cut by the ECB created a worrying north-south split, with the German-centered group opposing rate cuts and the southern faction wanting them. Today Austrian and…

News links for 11 November 2013

Private and public debt in the Eurozone increased since the 2000s, and especially so in certain countries. This column presents evidence that high levels of private and public debt, together with deleveraging of all sectors, are especially…

The German-language media have been voicing concerns over the ECB’s low interest-rate policy and its effect on savings and investment in the euro zone. This makes sense given the state of the economy in Germany and Austria is significantly…

Weak inflation readings in the US continue provide the Fed with the rationale to maintain securities purchases in what amounts to a "QE trap". With the PCE inflation measure once again below one percent, the FOMC doves fear that "taper"…

Below is the text of a speech delivered on Friday by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on the recent financial crisis and its similarities to financial panics like the Panic of 1907 (which led to the founding of the Federal Reserve in…

Everyone is familiar with the fact that Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke’s second term as Chairman is drawing to a close. Janet Yellen is widely expected to ultimately be confirmed by the Senate. What is less appreciated is that the…

Consumer price inflation in the Eurozone has been below the target of 2% and falling for quite some time. But until now, the ECB has been sitting on its hands. Inflation some distance below target didn't appear to bother it - most likely…

News links for 8 Nov 2013

debt matters, even if it is possible to pretend for many years that it doesn’t (and this pretense was made possible by the implicit capitalization of debt-servicing costs). Japan never really wrote down all or even most of its investment…