austerity

European leaders will meet again on December 9th in an attempt to come up with the solution. The important point, though, is that the probable solution would call for European nations to surrender some sovereignty over fiscal policy to a…

Mario Draghi has become explicit about what it will take for the ECB to have a more active role in the European sovereign debt crisis.

Foreign news for 1 December 2011 focuses on Europe, and in particular Spain.

The EU Summit is the last opportunity of the year, and some observers say the last opportunity period, for action that will begin seriously addressing the crisis. Tomorrow France's Sarkozy is expected to present his proposals tomorrow and…

Foreign financial news for 29 November 2011

Britain’s economy is a shambles as the negative impact of austerity has been made plain. Now, mind you, it was already clear from a leaked Greek bailout document that expansionary fiscal consolidation has failed in Greece. But now the…

Given the flurry of activity this past weekend in the euro zone, it seems clear that the Europeans have pushed the panic button. I anticipate that some sort of systemic response is likely in order to deal with Italy (and Spain), two large…

Editor’s note: the IMF musings would be difficult politically, especially in the US. And any deal for Italy would also have to involve Spain too. However, Perhaps most important, operationally, the ECB lending to the IMF, which then lends…

The rumour mill is grinding particularly fast at the moment. Germany and France seem to be working on the famous nuclear solution, Spain plays tough on outsiders, the IMF is rumoured to be preparing an aid package for Italy not to mention…

So here we are, with the ECB demanding deflationary austerity from the member nations in return for the limited bond buying that has been sustaining some semblance of national government solvency, not seeming to realize it can’t inflate…