EMU crisis


european dominos

“If debt grows, it means that the world economy is still expanding”

How do we overcome a debt crisis with more debt? Bocconi University’s Marcello Minenna recalls that in a world with inflation it is always possible to control the behaviour of the debt/GDP ratio just by reaching negative real interest rates. Also, he points out that eight years after the financial meltdown the tight interconnections in real time between the global markets make the system intrinsically unstable.


MAS greece

What next Greece?

By Gabriel Sterne via MacroPolisIt is easier to write down big questions on Greece’s future; harder to answer them: (1)   Will Syriza win with an overall majority?; (2)   Will a new programme be agreed in time?; (3)   To what extent will it stay on track?; (4)   How much additional debt relief and financing will the Troika give to Greece, and in what circumstances?; (5)   If and when the wheels come off the programme, is an exit inevitable? Would it be managed or chaotic? One thing we can be sure about though. The scene is set for a political showdown, the likes of which the Euro-crisis has not yet seen.


money1

QE and OMT are not the same thing

PARIS | By Francesco Saraceno | I think it is important to clarify once more that QE and the OMT (welcome to the wonderful world of EU acronyms) are not the same thing. If Mario Draghi manages to rally the Governing Council behind him, QE will consist of a vast program of sovereign bond purchases, in order to try to lift the European economy out of deflation. A European version in short, of what was done three years ago by the Fed and other major central banks in the world.


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“Risk premiums of 12 euro countries beat Spain’s in May 2010”

By Julia Pastor, in Madrid | The European debt crisis is not just the result of the rescued euro zone member countries, neither a problem worsened by the two southern-Europe biggest economies, namely Spain and Italy. According to a report appeared on Wednesday in El País “the risk premium of 12 countries out of the the 17 states adhered to the single currency has reached not only a record high,…