MADRID | Without the debt mutualisation well organised single-currency unions have, the euro zone is nothing but a bunch of weak links. Citi strategist JL Campuzano advocates for deeper budget consolidation now, for economic growth in the near future.
In peripheral countries such as Greece, Portugal, Italy and Spain, the political class has been clearly overwhelmed by the crisis and its devastating effects, says commentator Carlos Díaz Güell.
MADRID | Will European leaders ever jointly move forward? The more the global economy slows down and recession looms too over core euro zone countries, the farther Europe finds itself from agreeing in letting the central bank do its work.
Philipp Rösler, vice chancellor and federal minister of economics and technology of Germany, used Tuesday in London some of the toughest language in defence of further austerity for the euro zone.
MADRID | “Given that it took four years to complete the negotiations of the Treaty of the Union until it was signed in 1992, given the depth of the issues, it is conceivable that this time it won’t be a lot simpler,” says Carlos Díaz Güell.
Although the European Union has a consistency of its own, the Nobel Committee may well see risks in the drawn-out process of more and more austerity accompanied by less and less growth.
Economist Luis Arroyo describes the dimensions of the troubles the Spanish banking system faces and concludes that Chancellor Angela Merkel has, again, made the wrong moves during the last EU summit.
Germany isn’t just refusing to play the paymaster’s role, it effectively is barring the way towards a banking and a true economic union for the euro zone. The upcoming summit could be one more missed chance to fix the common currency area.
Past performance casts doubts over what European governments will achieve by implementing the Tobin Tax on financial transactions. Funding costs for banks and their clients, though, will surely increase.
Investors’ hoping that Madrid successfully implements the 2013 Budget were left wondering again after the IMF announced its gloomy expectations. For economist JP Marín Arrese, Spain’s euro partners will make a mistake if they keep pushing the country into the same line Greece, Ireland and Portugal have been forced to walk.