The EU has made progress on the construction of a banking union, by agreeing on common rules for dealing with failed banks. The downside is that these rules won’t kick in until 2015: the Eurozone faces…
Economics is at the heart of Portugal’s political crisis.
marionzetta
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…
Tough times in the zone: the euro is holding out for a hero.
Rock Cohen/Flickr
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…
A deal to help Cyprus raise €7 billion to qualify for another €10 billion bailout from the EU and IMF has been agreed to, but investors will feel the pain.
EPA/Olivier Hoslet
Uninsured savings over €100,000 deposited in a troubled Cypriot bank may be subject to a new levy, under a deal reached to save the Cyprus banking system. The European Union (EU) finance ministers, the…
With the implementation of the Single Supervisory Mechanism, European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi has taken a major step towards greater financial integration in the Eurozone.
AAP
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…
As Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy considers a bailout from the European Central Bank, commentators argue over whether the root of the country’s economic troubles sprang from its housing bubble, rather than prolifigate public spending.
AAP
Spaniards Fernando and Sara got married in 2007. With the help of their parents, the couple bought a house in the outer suburbs of Sevilla because they couldn’t afford one closer to the city. An art history…
Spain’s Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, is under pressure to formally request a bailout from the European Central Bank.
AAP
Up until fairly recently, Spain was a story of economic success. It was an example of how the periphery of Europe was quickly catching up with the core. Between 1995 and 2007, Spanish real GDP grew at…
Protesters outside the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany express their anger over Germany’s support of the ECB’s debt buy-back scheme.
AAP
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…
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi announced that the ECB will buy back bonds on the secondary market in a bid to curb the debt crisis.
AAP
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…
The Reserve Bank of Australia is expected to keep the cash rates unchanged tomorrow: but prominent economists say the case for a cut may be firming.
AAP
CAMA’s Shadow Board, which gives its views ahead of the decision by the Reserve Bank of Australia, continues to support the current setting of the cash rate at 3.5%. But economists are seeing a greater…
Germany’s triple A rating has been given a negative outlook by ratings agency Moody’s, amid ongoing woes in Greece, Spain and Italy.
AAP
On 23 July, the rating agency Moody’s put the triple A debt of Germany, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg on a negative outlook. The day after, the outlook on the European Financial Stability Fund was also…
Will super Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank, come to the Eurozone’s rescue?
AAP
Today Eurozone leaders will meet in Brussels. On the agenda is nothing less than the survival of the euro. Officially, it is about Spain: Spain’s economic and financial woes show the urgency. Moody’s drastically…
Alexis Tsipras, leader of the Coalition of the Radical Left (Syriza) party, has proposed the cancellation of Greece’s agreements with the European Union and the IMF.
AAP
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…
During the Great Depression, policymakers had an irrational - and detrimental - attachment to the gold standard. Should we be worried about the similar fervour for a strong euro?
BullionVault
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…
The European Central Bank’s long-term refinancing operations have reduced acute liquidity problems in the banking sector, but the situation in the Eurozone remains fragile.
AAP
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…
Not so funny…. Portugal is the next vulnerable Euro nation, but it doesn’t fit the German-favoured critique of a profligate country unwilling to undertake reforms.
AAP
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…
Eurozone countries must toe the fiscal line, or face the consequences under a new treaty signed this week.
AAP
Europe this week has voted for tough new fiscal rules aimed at reining in high deficits, as world economic leaders continue to grapple with solving the sovereign debt crisis. But not all measures have…
Merkel, Sarkozy and Monti must accept drastic fiscal reforms if they want to save the Eurozone.
The announcement by credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s overnight that it could downgrade the triple-A rating of Europe’s debt rescue fund has battered market confidence, which had been buoyed…
Despite happy appearances, the two leaders disagree the way out of the Eurozone crisis.
AAP
What could be a decisive week for Europe and its common currency has begun, with the announcement of a package of fiscal austerity measures in Italy. Markets, European partners, and – perhaps above all…
The European Central Bank needs to start buying more bonds from Eurozone countries.
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The departure of Silvio Berlusconi does not seem to have eased the pressure on Italy, with reports suggesting the International Monetary Fund is reading a 600 billion euro emergency bailout for the Eurozone’s…