Gilbert, Μ. (2014) “ECB Needs Japanese Lessons“, Bloomberg View, 05 Νοεμβρίου.   Economists like to warn about Japanification, the risk that a country will follow the desultory experience of Japan, which slumped into deflation in 1999 and for all intents never climbed out. As Europe slides closer to deflation, the European Central Bank should heed the historical experience and the current efforts by the Bank of Japan to resuscitate growth. …Read More

Mody, Α. (2014) “Pulling the eurozone back from the brink- whatever its flaws, OMT is the closest thing to a safety net the eurozone has“, Bruegel Institute, 02 Νοεμβρίου.   On October 14, as yet another financial storm gathered over Europe, the European Court of Justice convened in Luxembourg. In the coming months, the ECJ will assess the German Constitutional Court’s ruling that the European Central Bank’s “outright monetary transactions” (OMT) scheme …Read More

The Editors: “Europe’s Crazy Finance Tax“, Bloomberg View, 02 Νοεμβρίου 2014.   Wrangling among the 11 euro-region nations planning to tax financial transactions is further evidence, if any were needed, that the levy is a bad idea that should be abandoned. The European Commission acknowledges that the latest version of its planned financial transactions tax (or Tobin tax, or Robin Hood tax, if you prefer) isn’t the best option. That, …Read More

Bloomberg Editors (2014) “Europe’s Deadly Fiscal Paralysis“, Bloomberg View, 31 Οκτωβρίου.   Quarrels over European Union budget policy don’t amount to much in themselves. Yet they demonstrate a pathology whose importance is hard to exaggerate. If growth in the euro area is not restored, the future of the union itself will be in jeopardy. Instead of grappling with this, however, Europe’s leaders are endlessly engaged with trivialities. Anti-EU sentiment has …Read More

Richter, W. (2014) “The Wrath of Draghi: First German Bank Hits Savers with Negative Interest Rate“, ΘZeroHedge, 30 Οκτωβρίου.   Deutsche Skatbank, a division of VR-Bank Altenburger Land, which was founded in 1859, is not the biggest bank in Germany, but it’s the first bank to confirm what German savers have been dreading for a while: the wrath of Draghi. Retail and business customers with over €500,000 on deposit as …Read More