Europe

It seems like it’s only a matter of time before Portugal succumbs to the contagion. As seen in EM crises of the past, we simply cannot ignore the fact that contagion remains a very strong force and so we see little chance that Portugal…

A lot of other cool graphics from Spiegel, including debt and deficits throughout Europe.. See sources at the bottom for more (like when periphery bonds come due, Italy included).

This chart from Spiegel gives you a sense of the magnitude of the deficit reductions that must be accomplished in order to get the European periphery under the Maastricht 3% hurdle.   Source: Spiegel

The 30-year campaign of the wealthy to rig our economic system – especially the tax component – for their own benefit will accelerate with the GOP capture of the House of Representatives and the likely capture of the presidency and Senate…

Part 1.  Will Europe face defaults? Its official – Spain and Portugal will need to be bailed out soon.  How do I know? In one of my favorite TV shows, Yes Minister, the all-knowing civil servant Sir Humphrey explains to cabinet…

by Win Thin Hungary is perhaps taking a more obvious approach to influencing monetary policy than Brazil, as ruling Fidesz party has reportedly submitted an amendment to the Central Bank Act that would give the cabinet sole control of…

Here's a great graphic on the Irish bailout, quantifying the exposure of foreign banks to Ireland as well as the pots of money from which the 85 billion euros for the Irish bailout is coming. My understanding about the ' funds which Ireland…

by Win Thin Details of Ireland’s four-year budget plan are emerging and it contains the expected mix of spending cuts and tax hikes that is needed to get IMF/EU aid.  Ireland did not bow to outside pressure to hike the corporate tax…

by Win Thin We continue to be concerned about contagion risks in the peripheral euro zone.  The package for Ireland has ultimately been shrugged off by the markets this week after initial gains in the euro and peripheral bond…

by Win Thin Here are some more thoughts regarding the negative Ireland comments by Moody’s that we highlighted in our daily.  The agency warned of “multi-notch” downgrades to its Aa2 rating, noting that the aid plan will “crystallize…