austerity

The UK is a good example of what austerity means. In the wake of tax increases and budget cuts in the UK, retail sales in Britain have plunged by the most on record. I seriously doubt that the coalition government there will meet its…

Below is a video of Richard Koo from this past weekend's INET conference in Bretton Woods giving us his latest thoughts on policy responses to a balance sheet recession. He believes that Europe, the U.S. and China have much to learn from…

I would argue that inflation expectations are rising as we speak. They are still anchored but they will not be if they continue to rise any more. And if inflation expectations become unanchored, it will mean that policy tightening will have…

Yesterday, Paul Krugman wrote: Portugal’s government has just fallen in a dispute over austerity proposals. Irish bond yields have topped 10 percent for the first time. And the British government has just marked its economic forecast…

Apparently, George Osborne, the current Chancellor, has such a bedroom voice that he puts the Lord Chancellor to sleep. Sweet dreams.

I have written a post or two offering the opinion that Barack Obama faces an economy more akin to Herbert Hoover's than Franklin Roosevelt. See "Barack Obama as Herbert Hoover" where posited the following: My intent here is…

Tonight I should be on the Lang & O’Leary Exchange, the CBC’s prime-time national business program, at 7PM ET. We are going to be discussing the European sovereign debt crisis for about 5-7 minutes. Canadian readers, tune in. For…

The decision by EU Commissioner Olli Rehn to appear before the world's press today, and inform the assembled throngs that, as far as the EU Commission could see, Spain will not be sticking to its 6% of GDP fiscal deficit commitment next…

Along with the EU and IMF we can be in no doubt: the reform programme evidently is on track. The only issue which seems to divide everyone – and especially those office-bound Fund employees from their more financially savvy…

Below are two good videos outlining the Irish situation. For relevant background info see CW posts below (the last one is most hopeful): Ireland: Next stop – IMF, October 2009 How Does Irish Banking Play Out? Chart of the day:…