Political Economy

This is just a brief follow-up to the daily commentary on austerity. I noticed that both EC head Manuel Barroso and PIMCO boss Bill Gross weighed in on European austerity today. And their comments support my contention that we are in the…

Here is the video of an interview I did with Max Keiser on the situation in Europe. A lot of our discussion revolves around why the Germans actually do want a cohesive Europe but feel compelled to pursue the present policy path. We also…

In all of the bailed out nations of the euro zone, sovereign default is the worry as this can create a cascading knock-on effect like the failure of Creditanstalt in 1931 that ushered in the banking crisis of the Great Depression. We see…

The European Union is an existential crisis because its crowning achievement, the single currency, has come under assault from all sides. The continued existence of the Euro has even been called into question as country after country within…

The Bank of Japan is taking the concept of quantitative easing to a whole new level. Unlike the Fed who is only focused on treasuries and agency MBS securities, the BOJ is authorized to purchase ETFs and REITs in addition to JGBs.

Over the past weekend, Italy's caretaker cabinet formally approved plans to begin paying its overdue bills to domestic suppliers and service providers. Its official arrears have aggravated underlying problems, such as access to credit by…

"With the current policy, will need force to keep it going against the interests of the people. You do not need to be a eurosceptic to conclude that such a monetary union is also deeply immoral." - Wolfgang Manchau, Eurozone Break-Up Edges…

By Edward Hugh According to the Economist’s Buttonwood, “desperate times require desperate measures”. I am sure this is right, times in Spain are certainly getting desperate and many of the measures being implemented in Brussels, far from…

Here are some quick points on the Cyprus deal which the Eurogroup agreed to last night. The agreement outline is very much along the lines of what I have been recommending regarding bail-in guidelines and is therefore a much fairer deal…

Editor's Note: The Eurogroup released the following statement moments ago in connection with the banking and sovereign debt crisis in Cyprus. The Eurogroup has reached an agreement with the Cypriot authorities on the key elements necessary…