In imploring the world to be less dependent on the US dollar for international transactions, French finance minister Michel Sapin is expressing a wish that many of the euro’s creators hoped would already…
What do the latest growth figures teach us about Europe? First, the overall growth performance of the European Union is worse and more fragmented than expected. GDP in vulnerable countries such as Greece…
Angela Merkel’s visit to London could hardly have been given a bigger billing; a speech to both houses of parliament, lunch with the prime minister and then tea with the Queen. David Cameron clearly had…
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 US debt crisis is over for now, but legislators have just kicked the can down the road. In this series on the US debt ceiling, academics from Australia, the UK and the US assess the lingering global…
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…
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 decision by Standard and Poor’s to downgrade the debt of nine Eurozone countries last week, followed by the inevitable downgrade of the Eurozone rescue fund two days later, raises important questions…
Is the Eurozone about to crash and burn, leaving Club Med in its wake? Not so fast. Reports have suggested that French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have discussed a strategic…
The Greek Prime Minister will resign in an effort to save the bailout deal agreed by the European Union to dig the country out of its debt crisis. George Papandreou agreed to go following talks with the…
Will Greece default and exit the Eurozone? The best-case scenario is a managed, orderly, partial default with the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), a fund created in 2010 to manage Eurozone…
Europe is in crisis once again and this time it is deadly serious. At stake is not only the survival of the European currency, but also of the entire integration project. Collapse of the Euro could trigger…
The dramatic falls in share prices of Greek debt-laden French banks overnight highlights just how closely tied the current market chaos is to the world’s worsening debt woes. Market crashes like that of…