Spain

One of the reasons that it is been so hard for a lot of analysts, even trained economists, to understand the imbalances that were at the root of the current crisis is that we too easily confuse national savings with household savings. By…

We speak of the case in which positive shocks are self-reinforcing, as a virtuous circle, and the case in which negative shocks are self-reinforcing as a vicious circle, but the important point is that these processes are part of the same…

The current crisis – which is arguably no longer a crisis but rather a way of life – has all now gotten so complex that the issues involved are almost certainly, and in principle, “beyond their ken.” Spain’s economy will continue to march…

Spain's 10-year bond yield has fallen 108 bp this year. Just above 4%, the yield is the lowest Q4 2010. The 2-year yield has fallen 93 bp this year. The yield is slipping through 1.70%, for the first time Q2 2010. Recent data suggested that…

There have been three recent developments in Spain: the new record high unemployment, the earnings reports of several large banks, and the government's new fiscal forecasts and strategy. Spanish 10-year yields continued to trend lower…

I am not going to say a whole lot here in this post because I have been writing non-stop about Europe of late. I just want to share the European links with you. I think what the links show is that the European paradigm is in transition from…

Osborne has said in the past that his austerity approach is the right one and has pointed to a 2010 paper on government debt and growth by Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff as evidence his approach is the right one. Given the recent furore…

In the wake of the Reinhart-Rogoff controversy, there is certainly going to be a push forward toward stimulus. And Spain is going to be a leading player here. The problem for Spain is that the country is beset by deflationary forces from…

A recent ECB household-wealth survey was interpreted by the media as evidence that poor Germans shouldn’t have to pay for southern Europe. This column takes a look at the numbers. Whilst it’s true that median German households are poor…

By Sober Look As European banks find some private sources of capital to fund themselves, they continue to repay their ECB loans - particularly in the 3y LTRO program. FoxBusiness: - Next week, nine banks will repay just over 4 billion euros…