European breakup

Politics will not get nearly as crazy or as radicalized as they did in the 1930s. There are much more robust mechanisms today for transferring and sharing adjustment costs. But it is hard to imagine that the kinds of disruptive political…

A few weeks ago, when writing about the Irish debt crisis, I finished a post saying: Eventually, people may come around to Evans-Pritchard’s view: the only way out of this is via the ECB printing money and monetizing the periphery’s…

This is an analysis of the remaining options in the euro zone post-Ireland bailout. This period in Europe reminds me very much of the period after the Indy Mac failure in the U.S. after which markets were in a permanent state of stress.…

The news out of Spain that the government is taking drastic action to avoid debt revulsion is a clear indication that the Eurozone is entering a new phase of economic weakness. All across Europe from the UK to Greece to Spain to Germany,…

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is feeling pressure to force German banks to take a haircut on Greek debt by both her own party and opposition leaders (like Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the former Vice Chancellor and now head of the opposition…

Marshall Auerback here with some thoughts on how problems in the Eurozone conflict with Washington's export agenda. A recent poll by Douglas Schoen and Patrick Caddell suggests that swing voters in the US, who are key to the fate of the…

If you’re really good at making a pigs ear of things, why not join the EU? Of course, this is not meant as a piece of solid advice, rather it is a cry of frustration at being impotently forced to watch so many things done so badly, each in…

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…

I will be away all week, so I will have a number of guest contributions in that time. Here is a great one from John Mauldin, who I frequently publish.  At the bottom is a blurb on how to subscribe to his newsletter.  It is worth…