austerity

Spain is on a bad course, with recognised debt about to surge rapidly, while investor confidence in the current administration is slipping. Time for another “game changer” I think, since otherwise this car is about to crash.

Will Germany lose its best friend in the Upright Brigade? And if so, will this encourage Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Italy and Spain etc. to question Germany-encouraged austerity policies? Spain’s prime minister has already said that the…

This is a silver level post. Spain is now fessing up that its going to miss 2012 targets as well as its 2011 deficit targets. For Credit Writedowns readers, this should come as no shock because I predicted this months ago. Here's the…

The devolution in Spain is particularly troubling. The new fiscal compact had just been signed last week, which includes somewhat more rigorous fiscal rule and enforcement, when Spain's PM Rajoy revealed that this year's deficit would come…

Spain unemployment claims increased 112,269 in February, with total registered unemployed reaching 4.7 mln and the pace of claims picking up. This comes after a pretty ugly Q4 jobless rate of 22.9%, and points to further deterioration…

The country's economy will now shrink because European policy makers fail to understand the dynamics of debt deflation.

There is plenty of room for policy error. The reasons to fear a Lehman-like event still seem compelling. European officials suggest the problem is the lack of implementation of reform and growth measures in Greece. No doubt there is an…

I am not particularly shocked or worried about the cancelled European finance ministers meeting. I still think this bailout gets done because Europe and the markets are not prepared for a disorderly default and politicians cannot risk the…

Polls suggest that in the first round of balloting in late April, Sarkozy is trailing his Socialist challenger Hollande 31%-24.5%. Marina Le Pen's candidacy appears sufficiently strong to deny either candidate a majority in the first round.

The austerity regime being adopted throughout Europe, by surplus and deficit countries alike, amid deleveraging, begs the question of where will aggregate demand come from? Moreover, iIf Greece can lower its debt burden by transferring some…