currencies

French President Francois Hollande delivered an impassioned speech before the European Parliament in Strasbourg today decrying the strength and volatility of the euro exchange rate. This was the best indication that Hollande is feeling…

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's economic policy is in tatters. Spain's economic descent is now accelerating, with output shrinking 0.7% in just the last quarter alone - the worst since crisis began in 2009. For the full year, output…

Earlier today I posted an article in the links on the euro's move up to a 14-month high. As I write this, the euro is trading a 1.3568 to the US dollar, up markedly from 2012's low during the sovereign debt crisis of 1.2063 on 25 July. And…

All G7 economies are struggling in the post-crisis climate, but US GDP has recovered to pre-crisis levels, while the Eurozone simply hasn’t. This column portrays the global crisis as a transitory shock for the US, but as a quasi-permanent…

The synchronized crisis and economic weakness has produced synchronized easing of monetary policy. Officials typically want currency to be supporting not contradicting monetary policy signals.

The financial crisis has reduced the ranks of countries with pristine macro fundamentals. Thus, the availability of safe assets has declined precipitously. Investors in a bind where they have funds to invest but a limited number of options,…

The key to Spain's turning the corner as 2013 begins is the housing market. This takes on increasing importance given the reprieve in crisis interest rates. House prices are still falling and the economy is contracting despite the…

As nations see Japan's success in weakening the yen (see discussion), some begin to take notice. Emerging markets nations often attempted to devalue their currencies in the past in order to improve competitiveness. But these days developed…

The unemployment rate in the euro zone hit 11.8% in November according to the numbers released by the EU this morning. That is a record. The EU-27-wide unemployment rate was 10.7%. This contrasts very unfavourably to the unemployment levels…

The French housing market transaction volume declined by 25% last year, according to Century21. The fall in the French housing market is just beginning. And given the macro problems in France and the previous run up in house prices, the…