Dixon, H. (2014) “A New Euro Crisis?“, Reuters Breaking Views, 20 October.
The markets are right to worry about the euro zone, the epicentre of last week’s fright. Its three big economies -Germany, France and Italy- are, in their own ways, stuck.
There is, in theory, a grand bargain that might shift the malaise. This would involve deep structural reform by Berlin as well as Paris and Rome; quantitative easing by the European Central Bank to boost inflation; and some loosening of fiscal straitjackets.
But such a deal -hinted at by Mario Draghi, the ECB president, in his Jackson Hole speech in August- is unlikely to materialize soon, if at all.
In the meantime, the region is being battered by shocks from outside and within. The external shocks are: the slowdown of emerging economies, especially China; the row with Russia over Ukraine; the Ebola outbreak; and the war against Islamic State.
Relevant posts:
- Verney, S., Bosco, A. & Lobo, M. C. (Eds.) (2014) “Southern Europe and the Financial Earthquake – Coping with the First Phase of the International Crisis“, South European Society and Politics, Routledge Publications, October.
- Galbraith, J. K., The End of Normal: The Great Crisis and the Future of Growth, Simon and Shuster, New York: September 2014.
- Zartaloudis, S. (2014) “The financial crisis has badly damaged the Greek and Portuguese welfare states“, LSE EUROPP, 23 September.