Author

Edward Hugh 152 posts 0 comments

Ed was a macro economist based in Barcelona, who specialized in growth and productivity theory, demographic processes and their impact on macro performance, and the underlying dynamics of migration flows.

He was a lovely person and a prolific blogger in his time. Ed’s analyses can be found on his “Don’t Shoot the Messenger” blog on www.economonitor.com, at the India Economy Blog, A Fistful of Euros, Global Economy Matters and Demography Matters. He was a founding member of all these weblogs.

Political Economy

Do I See Movement In The Greek Trenches?

Edward Hugh Apr 20, 2010

This isn’t about economics anymore, this is now about who does what, when, and how everyone else reacts. Certainly the news that Greek bonds hit another post-EMU record high yesterday can hardly be said to have come as a surprise. 10-year…

Monetary System

China’s Trade Deficit: Is What You Yuan What You’re Gonna Get?

Edward Hugh Apr 18, 2010

China is self-evidently both a minefield and a potential graveyard for would-be global economists, the sort of place where reputations are made and lost in the twinkle of a dragon’s eye, so I think had better tread rather carefully here.…

Economy

Lies, Damn Lies And Statistics In Sweden (of all places)

Edward Hugh Apr 17, 2010

This post is basically a follow-up to my earlier Just What Is Going On In Sweden? one, and has been stimulated by an article which appeared in Bloomberg earlier in the week, detailing a number of issues which have arisen in conjunction with…

Economy

Is Estonia’s Euro Membership A Done Deal?

Edward Hugh Apr 16, 2010

Well, if you read this report from Euractiv, citing unnamed EU Commission officials, it is: “If nothing extraordinary happens, the Commission will give its positive opinion for the accession of Estonia to the euro zone on 12 May,” an EU…

Political Economy

Angela Calling Update

Edward Hugh Apr 11, 2010

Well, it seems the EU leadership have finally been able to take a decision on what to lend and what to charge (see original post here). According to initial press reports the German government has decided in principal to participate in…

Political Economy

Angela Calling

Edward Hugh Apr 11, 2010

Angela Merkel is a Chemist. In her doctoral thesis - entitled "Untersuchung des Mechanismus von Zerfallsreaktionen mit einfachem Bindungsbruch und Berechnung ihrer Geschwindigkeitskonstanten auf der Grundlage quantenchemischer und…

Political Economy

From A Greek Debt Crisis To A Eurozone Structural One?

Edward Hugh Mar 26, 2010

When we look back five years from now, will we see this week as marking a turning point in the short, but far from uneventful, ten year history of Europe’s common currency? Certainly recent comments by the deputy governor of the People's…

Political Economy

Why Not Unravel The IMF Too While We’re At It?

Edward Hugh Mar 24, 2010

If you’re really good at making a pigs ear of things, why not join the EU? Of course, this is not meant as a piece of solid advice, rather it is a cry of frustration at being impotently forced to watch so many things done so badly, each in…

Economy

Waiting For Something To Turn Up: Europe’s Looming Pensions-based Sovereign Debt Crisis

Edward Hugh Mar 16, 2010

As Irwin Stelzer argued in a recent opinion article in the Wall Street Journal, Spain’s Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero seems to be an admirer of Charles Dickens's character Mr. Micawber. When asked what he plans to do about…

Political Economy

And From Berlin Down to Beijing, Can’t You Just Hear Those Factories Hum?

Edward Hugh Mar 16, 2010

It’s curious how one and the same message is emanating from both Beijing and Berlin at the moment: “don’t blame us, it’s not our fault”. And it isn’t. According to the Financial Times, the Chinese Authorities spent their morning pushing…