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…
In an attempt to bolster the economy, the Federal Reserve announced a fresh round of bond purchases to replace Operation Twist, the stimulus program that is set to expire this month. It will spend $US45…
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…
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…
We all know the global economy is down the toilet. Even if we overlook the financial debacle in Greece, Spain, Iceland, Ireland – and that’s not easy – the big problem is Uncle Sam. Currently, the US Government…
Half of Spain’s youth (that is, those under the age of 25) are now officially unemployed, while overall unemployment in Spain stands at 24.4%, according to the latest figures released by the Spanish Institute…
Having read that the outcome of the Greek elections points to a continuation of the push for fiscal austerity in that country, my heart sunk. Then I see that our own Prime Minister has been quoted as telling…
When two sides bargain, their interaction reflects a potential mutual benefit but also a measure of conflict. For instance, when a firm and its supplier reach a deal, there is often more than one price…
All eyes are on Greece this weekend for the second legislative election in five weeks. This is no ordinary election: the global implications of the outcome might be significant. Griffith University lecturer…
To free the age from its captivity, To create a brand new world, The discordant, tangled days Must be linked, as with a flute. –Osip Mandelstam, The Age (1923) There is an air of impending disaster in…
Suppose that in 1901 Australia’s founding fathers had designed the Commonwealth differently. The states were to retain all powers to tax and had to finance themselves (including health, education and social…
The positivity off the weekend’s news that Spain’s banks will receive rescue loans of up to 100 billion euros from eurozone finance ministers appears short-lived. Despite it being well-received in Asian…
The special EU summit held in Brussels on Wednesday revamped the discussion on Eurobonds (i.e. the issuance of common government bonds to pool the Eurozone debt liability) as a possible option to address…
The lingering commitment to austerity of leading Western politicians in the face of impending economic tragedy is beyond belief. The dismal science is a sobriquet often wrongly applied to economics, but…
Are the tragedies of the 1920s repeating themselves in the twenty-first century? In the 1920s, an irrational attachment to the gold standard helped cause the Great Depression, as European fears of inflation…
Europe is in economic dire straits and the two most powerful economies on the continent are, at least on paper, led by individuals with considerable differences. The previous French President Nicolas Sarkozy…
The answer, even though they see over and over again that austerity leads to collapse of the economy, the answer over and over [from politicians] is more austerity. – Joseph Stiglitz, Asian Financial Forum…
Harald Sander, Cologne University of Applied Sciences (CUAS)
In November 2011, the Eurozone crisis reached a climax with interest rates on sovereign debt of Eurozone problem debtors soaring. Fear of sovereign defaults spilled over into the interbank markets as Eurozone…
Spain’s general strike last week has sent a clear message to other Eurozone countries about how challenging it may be to implement labour market reform. The strike was mostly peaceful, with the exception…
Harald Sander, Cologne University of Applied Sciences (CUAS)
Greece is rescued, for now…maybe. Perhaps it’s time to move on to the next basket case. So, which of the PIIGS is the next Greece? For the moment, Portugal looks to be the front-runner. The country’s public-debt-to-GDP…