The Corner | July 9, 2015 | Athens should make a formal request of a third aid programme with a detailed reforms agenda today. Some analysts say an agreement with its creditors is not out of reach but that a Grexit is unavoidable. Others believe in Mr Tsipras’ determination to fix things and stay in the club for everyone’s sake.
LONDON | July 9, 2015 | UBS | At one simplistic level the UK budget contained only ‘small’ news, with the net borrowing forecasts not changing too much. But the reality was this was a budget with a huge number of important announcements. For one, it reduced the near-term pace of fiscal consolidation. For another, it spelt out how the government intends to reduce the size of the welfare state.
BEIJING | July 8, 2015 | Caixin | The government was slow to recognize the risks that umbrella trusts created, then acted as if the Shanghai Composite Index should set policy.
LONDON | July 8, 2015 | Barclays | Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong-listed H-Share indices all fell 3-4%, although the declines likely understate the weakness in sentiment given that trading has been halted in shares comprising c.40% of market capitalisation.
ATHENS | July 6, 2015 | By Nick Malkoutzis via MacroPolis | Almost 11 years ago today, tens of thousands of Greeks poured on to the streets in harmonious celebration of the national team’s Euro 2004 victory. That was another decade, another time, another world. Today, Greeks have little to celebrate and much that divides them.
The Corner | July 6, 2015 | As the ECB decides whether to continue providing emergency liquidity assistance (ELA) to Greece this morning, former governing council member José Manuel González-Páramo finds it hard to believe the aid will be increased. A Grexit “is unlikely to happen,” he said on Spanish radio Onda Cero.
PARIS | July 5, 2015 | By Francesco Saraceno | I have been silent on Greece, because scores of excellent economists from all sides commented at length and in real time on the developments of negotiation, and most has been said. But last week has transformed into a certainty what had been a fear since the beginning. The Troika, backed by the quasi totality of EU governments, were not interested in finding a solution which would allow Greece to recover while embarking on a fiscally sustainable path. No, they were interested in a complete and public defeat of the “radical” Greek government. a
ATHENS | July 4, 2015 | By Yannis Mouzakis via MacroPolis | Here we are again, just over five years of the anniversary of the country’s first programme and more than 210 billion euros of financing later, Greece is about to hold the referendum that machinations and backroom dealings averted back in 2011.
BEIJING | July 2, 2015 | By Xu Gao via Caixin | Moves by the Chinese central bank (PBOC) indicate that it is paying close attention to margin trading and the commitment that banks have made to the bourse.
ATHENS | July 2, 2015 | By Nick Malkoutzis via MacroPolis | Since the start of Greece’s bailout programs in 2010, there has been an unrequited desire in Greek public opinion for a referendum. In fact, current Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras urged the then Greek leader George Papandreou to hold one before signing the first memorandum of understanding with creditors five years ago. In late 2011, when Papandreou proposed holding one, Tsipras was against the idea.