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Buiter was right about Europe’s phony bank stress tests and the Dutch mortgage crisis
Nationalised Dutch lender SNS Reaal, the fourth largest bank in the Netherlands has recently been nationalised despite a reported 13 percent Tier 1 capital level in the most recent round of banking stress tests in Europe. Clearly, the…
Ten Surprises for 2013 coming
Last year, I started off the newsletter with a list of ten surprises for 2012 which I reviewed last month. I apologize for not having a similar list of ten surprises for 2013 yet. I think it is a good exercise to go through to hone one's…
On Germany’s record trade surplus and increasing trade deficits in Japan
Trade data for the US, Germany, Japan and China were released earlier today. While the US, Germany and China had robust export growth that caused their surpluses to swell, Japan's numbers showed weakness despite the recent drop in the value…
Thoughts on the US Economy, Trade Data, Sequester and Deleveraging
The US trade figures for Q4 2012 came out this morning and they surprised analysts by showing a trade deficit that shrank 21% to $38.5 billion in December. According to Bloomberg News this was a lower deficit than any of 73 economists…
Ireland to liquidate Anglo Irish to cut government debt
According to the Irish Times, the government of Ireland has entered into a deal with the ECB to cut the country's debt by liquidating the nationalised Irish bank Anglo Irish. As I noted in the Saturday post on Ireland's superior economic…
Pressure on ECB mounts as France joins periphery stance in currency wars
French President Francois Hollande delivered an impassioned speech before the European Parliament in Strasbourg today decrying the strength and volatility of the euro exchange rate. This was the best indication that Hollande is feeling…
Greece records its first primary budget surplus excluding interest in 2012
According to Greece's finance ministry, Greece's government was able to record its first primary surplus in years. This is a measure of a budget based on revenue minus expenditure excluding interest costs and is commonly thought of a…
How the political corruption scandal in Spain mirrors one in Germany under Kohl
Europe seems to have reached the nadir economically, judging from the last few economic data points. But there is still a long way to go. In my view, Spain remains the most important country in Europe's sovereign debt crisis because of its…
On Ireland’s superior economic performance
Earlier in the week, I wrote a post on Latvia which explained why there is limited applicability of Latvia's travails with austerity for larger economies in the euro zone. One place where Latvia does have applicability, however, is Ireland.
On austerity and the economic outlook in Portugal and Spain
In today's links were two articles which highlighted the juxtaposition between declining sovereign yields and worrisome economic fundamentals in Spain and Portugal.