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…
The US Federal Reserve has extended its bond-buying program, but will it be effective in boosting the economy?
Image from www.shutterstock.com
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…
Tackling France’s mounting sovereign debt will prove challenging for French President François Hollande.
AAP
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…
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…
Fair contest: should we tinker with the rules in a free market?
AAP
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…
Show of unity: Spain’s King Juan Carlos (centre) supported austerity cuts by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy - but expressed concern about their impact on Spanish youth.
AAP
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…
In the aftermath of the Greek elections, there have been renewed calls to accompany austerity measures with pro-growth policies.
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…
Greece’s citizens are faced with an unenviable choice.
EPA/Orestis Panagiotou
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…
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…
Alexis Tsipras will lead Syriza to the polls on June 17.
EPA/Orestis Panagiotou
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…
If Australia had been founded according to the Eurozone model, our current economic situation would look very different.
adam79
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…
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy: banks are bailed, but just a brief respite?
AAP
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…
Following the EU summit in Brussels this week, it seems eurobonds are back on the agenda. But will it be what it needed to save the Eurozone?
AAP
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…
Austerity’s political cheer squad: but is the game over? G8 countries have committed to growth by setting sights on employment.
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…
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…
German chancellor Angela Merkel and France’s new President Francois Hollande meet to discuss Europe’s economic woes.
EPA/Rainer Jensen
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…
Greek citizens took their frustration out on the ballot box this weekend.
EPA/Orestis Panagiotou
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…
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…
Plans by Spain’s new conservative government to push through deep labour reform has provoked protests, as it struggles to tackle its soaring unemployment rate.
AAP
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…
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…