In Europe

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Merkel & Sarkozy Sunday Quotes' Fest

Doom: “With the turmoil threatening to spiral into financial meltdown as the value of banks' sovereign bond holdings slide, Merkel and Sarkozy are likely to discuss in Berlin both how to manage Greece, prevent contagion and strengthen lenders.” Gloom: “German Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy amid signs that some European banks are feeling the strain of the lingering debt crisis which has pushed Greece to the brink…






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Now it's the Slovaks!

A Banco Santander note on Thursday addressing the misled general belief that it is Finland’s government that poses the tallest barrier in the Greek bailout’s way: “Positive news from Greece. The government announced aggressive additional measures necessary to reduce the deficit and thus gain access to the next €8bn tranche of aid. In any case, the risk of implementation is very high so it is expected that December (coming quarterly…


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Now it’s the Slovaks!

A Banco Santander note on Thursday addressing the misled general belief that it is Finland’s government that poses the tallest barrier in the Greek bailout’s way: “Positive news from Greece. The government announced aggressive additional measures necessary to reduce the deficit and thus gain access to the next €8bn tranche of aid. In any case, the risk of implementation is very high so it is expected that December (coming quarterly…


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Is austerity making things worse?

NEW YORK | It seems that there is already a critical mass of economists suggesting that the whole austerity passion that all of a sudden possessed world leaders is just the wrong passion. In this Monday CNN’s interview, Nobel economics laureate Joseph Stieglitz said he thinks the US government has to go away from austerity and go for a growth strategy. The same applies to Greece: if they continue to…


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Ms Lagarde is right (even though the ECB would rather turn a blind eye)

By Miguel Navascués, in Madrid | There has always been tension between the IMF and those countries under its analysis over the numbers in the fund’s economic forecasts. But this time the battle between the IMF’s Ms Lagarde and the European authorities has been set over valuations of sovereign bonds held by the banks. According to Lagarde, were the bonds in the European banks’ portfolios to be valued at their current market price……