The latest round of talks between Greek ministers and the financial institutions managing the largest loan a country has ever taken have just ended in Paris. It might seem odd that the latest talks to…
We are in a new phase of the post-crisis world. Growth is disappointing with Italy in recession, France close to it, and even Germany lagging. It is a useful reminder that recovery in a debt-overhang economy…
Banco Espírito Santo, the Portuguese bank, has become the top concern for international investors in recent days. The Portuguese stock exchange has taken a big hit and other European equity markets have…
Forget Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo or Mario Balotelli. What will make your country more (or less) likely to succeed in the World Cup is its rate of economic growth. At this point, I expect European…
Charles Wyplosz, Graduate Institute – Institut de hautes études internationales et du développement (IHEID)
The news from France has not been good over the last few years. Poor economic growth, stubbornly high unemployment, plant closures on the rise, strikes (not new, really), voter disenfranchisement and the…
One of the most exciting things about working at the LSE is that we get to hear some of the world’s top thinkers and policymakers. One occasion that I recall vividly is the visit of two great Europeans…
The eurozone crisis appears to have a new victim: Slovenia. To avoid the need for a bailout, the IMF has called on the country to immediately recapitalise its banks. This should worry the rest of Europe…
The recent political standoff that shut down the US government for 16 days and came uncomfortably close to the debt ceiling extension deadline is now thankfully over — for the moment. Given the current…
The current political crisis in Portugal has surprised both local economists who know little about politics and international analysts who are ill-informed about the Portuguese economy. In May, I had the…
Academics, politicians, international economists and central bankers alike talk and talk about the theoretical benefits of a European banking union. But these reflections go far beyond the current, real…
The latest political crisis in Greece began with a spat over the future of public tv and radio. The fragile political consensus among the three-way government coalition was finally broken with one party…
For those of us who grew up in the Greece of the neo-fascist colonels, nothing can stir up painful memories like a modern act of totalitarianism. When the television screen froze last night, an hour before…
The IMF has conceded that mistakes were made in the way the first Greek bailout in May 2010 was handled. Its report suggests the need to refine the fund’s lending policies to accommodate for conditions…
Last week, the Parliament of Cyprus rejected a bill that would impose a levy of 9.9% on bank deposits over the insurance threshold of €100,000 and a levy of 6.75% on deposits below the insurance ceiling…
Harald Sander, Cologne University of Applied Sciences (CUAS)
Last week the German government’s economic forecasts for 2013 have made clear that the Euro crisis will have a serious economic impact on Germany, with the economic growth projection cut down to a mere…
Last week was one of mixed fortunes for the Eurozone. The week began badly with news that Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Monti was resigning due to Silvio Berlusconi’s withdrawal of parliamentary support…
Back in the early 1980s, the former Secretary of State for Education in Harold Wilson’s Labour government, Shirley Williams, alerted me to a remarkable instance of regional economic development through…
Pressure is mounting for the recently elected French Socialist president, François Hollande and his government to address France’s sovereign debt, which is currently at a post-war record of 91%. France…
Harald Sander, Cologne University of Applied Sciences (CUAS)
The past few days have seen economic crisis management — if not the political landscape in the Eurozone — change fundamentally. On September 6, the ECB announced it would buy-back unlimited government…
Yesterday, the European Central Bank’s president, Mario Draghi, unveiled the European Central Bank’s rescue plan for the Eurozone. Mr Draghi said that the ECB is now prepared to buy sovereign bonds of…