Greek Elections: Returning to the Unsustainable Status Quo
New Democracy (ND) just barely pulled ahead of the anti-bailout, left-wing Syriza in the election on June 17th. According to the Greek constitution, the party in first place wins 50 bonus seats in...
View ArticleEFSF/ESM 2ndary Market Bond Purchases Wouldn’t Bring Much Relief
A number of ideas have been mooted over the past two weeks for steps towards a banking and fiscal union in the eurozone. Of all of these options to be discussed today at the EU summit in Brussels, it...
View ArticleEFSF/ESM Bond Buying in Primary Market Not Much Better
I’ve already explained why EFSF/ESM secondary market bond purchases wouldn’t really help. One of the ideas floating around the EU summit is that the EFSF/ESM can buy bonds in the primary markets. While...
View ArticleEU Summit: Some Good Progress, But Any Game Changers?
This EU summit marked many firsts for eurozone crisis era EU summits: it was the first time Greece hasn’t been discussed in years, it was the first time Italy and Spain bonded together and it was the...
View ArticleA Spanish Bailout? Don’t Hold Your Breath
From the guardian: It is a rule of thumb among eurozone crisis observers that the more something is denied by officials, the more likely it is to happen. With Spain’s borrowing costs at euro-area...
View ArticleECB Will Build a Bridge…But to Where?
All eyes are on the ECB governing council meeting on August 2nd to see exactly what Mario Draghi meant last week when he pledged that the ECB would preserve the euro. The way the markets have rallied...
View ArticleSeptember Will Be a Doozy Again This Year
Before you take off for your August holiday, you should probably be aware of what you’ll be coming back to in the eurozone (EZ) in September (warning: the following may make you decide not to come...
View ArticleWorst of the Eurozone Crisis Is Not Over Yet
All is relatively quiet in the eurozone these days – or at least that is what you might think, speaking to portfolio managers over the past few months. German chancellor Angela Merkel has visited...
View ArticleMisconstruing Germany Will Prove to Be Death of the Euro
When I go from one European capital to another, talking to officials and senior politicians about the future of the euro, Germany feels less like another country than a different planet. In Madrid and...
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