Europe

Earlier in the week, I wrote a post on Latvia which explained why there is limited applicability of Latvia's travails with austerity for larger economies in the euro zone. One place where Latvia does have applicability, however, is Ireland.

In today's links were two articles which highlighted the juxtaposition between declining sovereign yields and worrisome economic fundamentals in Spain and Portugal.

I had intended to write this post yesterday morning. However, after the bank scandal in Italy and the surprise drop in US GDP, I waited a day. The gist of what I intend to say here is that Italy is in the process of decoupling from Spain.…

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…

I have come across a number of Spanish-language links that I believe collectively add good colour to our understanding about the current economic and political situation in Spain. I am going to use them as a jumping off point for this quick…

Latvia went through a housing bubble and bust that was just as severe as Spain, Ireland, the UK, and the US. The policy response in Latvia was austerity. But was it a success? It depends on who you ask.

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…

I want to briefly reiterate the theme of an October post on Britain's role in Europe because of a speech the Prime Minister David Cameron made earlier today. Cameron, in a major speech in London, promised that if his party wins the next…

This is an update to today's weekly on Ireland and Portugal. Olli Rehn, the European Economics Commissioner has just confirmed my months' long forecast on how the Irish and Portuguese bailouts would proceed: with an OMT-style exit…