crisis

Media reports suggest that a recent article in German daily Frankfurter Rundschau are what have triggered the latest selloffs in Greek sovereign debt (See the Telegraph's account here; hat tip Swedish Lex). This article leaked portions of a…

I was on a panel of bloggers at a conference at the Columbia School of International and Public Affairs, “Facing the Fracture: Media & Economic Understanding.” The event, organized by Anya Schiffrin and sponsored by the Roosevelt…

Peter Boone and Simon Johnson have just written a post "Greece And The Fatal Flaw In An IMF Rescue," at Baseline Scenario which outlines three scenarios for the Greek economy going forward. True Fiscal Austerity... We…

A leading French daily is now reporting that the French are moving toward the German position on the Greek sovereign debt crisis. France may be willing to accept a role for the IMF, if it comes to this. The change in position comes a day…

Germany's finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble wants to save the euro but he doesn't seem to be very flexible about his negotiating tactics. He says Germany will support Greece if default is imminent, but they will receive nothing until then.…

I am highlighting this March 2010 post because it best represents my view on the structural changes needed in the euro-zone. I suggest setting up a pre-funded European Harmonisation Fund that can get fiscal policy harmonised and help to…

The Germans are pressing a hard line on all fronts of the sovereign debt crisis in Europe – not only with austerity measures for Greece but for a planned European Monetary Fund (EMF) as well. The most critical part of the German negotiating…

News reports are now surfacing that the Germans are open to IMF involvement in the Greece sovereign debt crisis.  This is a 180-degree turn for the German finance minister who has expressed vocal opposition to the IMF’s involvement in…

John Hussman notes that the very large non-subprime Alt-A and Option ARM cohort interest-rate resets lie ahead of us and not behind us in his latest weekly market commentary. In my view, this is a very big problem for the US banking sector…

Michael Lewis is out with a new book “The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine” which discusses how the big hitters on Wall Street destroyed $1.75 trillion of capital. His phrase ‘Doomsday Machine’ is reminiscent of former IMF chief…