bailout

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is a brilliant political tactician. After the latest EU Summit, it seemed she had capitulated after being rounded on by France's Hollande in an effort by Italy's Monti and Spain's Rajoy to prevent the market…

The EU Summit decision on banking union is being questioned by some economists in Germany. This column argues that a banking union is a critical step in ending the EZ crisis and building a more stable EZ financial architecture. It is a…

The biggest news is that the EU is already backtracking on the Euro summit deal that decoupled the sovereign-bank tie which had been causing Spanish and Italian yields to rise. And predictably, Spanish and Italian yields have risen once…

Comstock Partners argues that slowing growth as well as deficit and debt problems in the Eurozone, U.S., China and the emerging nations increases the odds of a deflationary global recession and a renewed down leg in the ongoing secular bear…

This week's newsletter will focus on Europe again as this morning the European summit has produced significant changes in European economic policy. Spanish Prime Minister Rajoy and Italian Prime Minister Monti threatened to 'block…

Germany, Spain, Italy and France have met to hammer out a unified front ahead of the upcoming European summit and Spanish bailout. This is likely a fleshed out version of the G-20 plan that Barack Obama was privy to. Their answer is the 120…

This week I am doing the weekly newsletter in two parts, both outside the paywall. This is part two. Previously, this column argued that it was folly for the euro zone to take the bailout and austerity approach because it risked breaking…

The EZ rescue strategy adopted in May 2010 failed to restore debt sustainability, avoid contagion, or reduce moral hazard. This column argues that a volte face is needed. The debt of Greece, Portugal and Italy – and perhaps Ireland, Spain…

The latest, with Spanish ten-year debt over 7% and 12-month loans just secured for over 5%, is that the ESM will buy Spanish bonds directly. According to the Guardian, Germany is prepared to use the ESM bailout fund to buy Spanish (and…

I guess we will never know whether or not Mariano Rajoy uttered the two magic words so effectively immortalized in song by Aretha Franklin that Saturday afternoon in late May as he cruised down the Chicago River in what Spanish media called…