Europe

This is another little animated story on Greece that takes a rather cynical view of the politics and economy - a bit of gallows humor, really.

The recent sequence of reassurances from various eurozone policymakers suggests we are in the early, not latter, stages of the euro crisis. Only an Anglo-Saxon style QE will prevent dissolution of the euro. Such a radically un-German…

Highlights The US dollar is mostly lower on news that US President Obama reached an agreement to extend the Bush tax cuts for another two years, which has lifted stocks and buoyed risk appetite, despite the speculation that China may…

This chart is in German, but most of the terms should be clear. The top half of the chart are the net payers of existing fiscal transfers within the EU, Germany being the largest, followed by Italy, France, and the Netherlands. The biggest…

We have seen how German policy experts like Otmar Issing have argued against Euro Bonds. Now, we get a cogent argument in favour of thee debt instruments via Wolfgang Munchau of Eurointelligence. Munchau recently penned an FT column making…

The lead post here is from CW contributor John Lounsbury on the seduction of America. He wrote the original version in the Spring of 2009; yet, this piece is as relevant today as it was then – a must read. Then there is Felix Salmon's post…

We have long argued that there was less to the EFSF that met the eye due to the need to maintain AAA rating when most members are rated lower. However, to increase the guarantees now could signal that officials are preparing to have to…

The thinking behind Eurobonds is that a pan-euro zone debt instrument could be used as a release valve for liquidity issues, allowing the truly insolvent to restructure their state level debt if necessary, without creating contagion. The…

I have been in meetings with Very Serious Texas Politicians where secession was earnestly discussed 15 years ago. Do I think that could happen? No. The Fed will never choose hyperinflation, and I do not think you can find 60 Senators to…

The US dollar rally continued to soften as the market awaits the November jobs report. The market expects a 150k increase in non-farm payrolls with a 158k increase in private payrolls. The ECB must be pleased with itself. The strategic…