Kennedy, S., Black, J., (2014), “Draghi’s ‘Whatever It Takes’ Still Works as Euro Revives” , Bloomberg, 10 January. Mario Draghi finally has reason for cheer as a new year begins. Eighteen months since the European Central Bank president declared he would do “whatever it takes” to protect the euro, fresh signs are emerging that his ad-libbed lines in a July 2012 London speech still serve as a potent force. Relevant …Read More
Mody, Ash., (2014), “The ghost of Deauville”, Voxeu, 7 January. On 19 October 2010, Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy agreed that in future, sovereign bailouts from the European Stability Mechanism would require that losses be imposed on private creditors. This agreement was blamed for the increase in sovereign spreads in late 2010 and early 2011. This column discusses recent research on the market reaction to the surprise announcement at Deauville. …Read More
Esposito, M., (2013), “The systemic nature of the EU crisis: reflections on a deepening issue”, Euro Crisis in the Press Blog, London School of Economics, 02 January. The Eurozone has entered its fourth year of crisis and 2013 has been a challenging year for a large number of Member States, who have been falling into severe debt, requesting bailouts tied to crippling austerity measures. If we thought the issue was …Read More
Hacker, B., (2013), “Why The ‘Genuine EMU’ Will Not Be a Fiscal Union”, Social Europe Journal, 02 January. Although the critics of the Maastricht Treaty, who called attention to the risks of monetary integration without fiscal and political integration, long went unheeded, the current crisis has reopened the debate on the structure of EMU. At least there is – and this is confirmed by the process concerning a ‘genuine’ EMU …Read More
Weeks, J., (2013), “A Eurozone Report Card 2013”, Social Europe Journal, 23 December. Three and one-half years ago the infamous Troika (IMF, European Commission and the European Central Bank, with the German government in close attendance) began its unsuccessful attempt to contain the crisis of the Eurozone, with a draconian austerity program for Greece. Subsequently, the Troika would add Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain to its list for the austerity …Read More
Sinn, H.W., (2013), “Rescuing Europe from the Ground Up”, Project Syndicate, 21 December. The European Union has earned its place as an instrument for peace in Europe. Free trade has brought prosperity to its peoples, and the freedom to choose a place of residence guards against the resurgence of totalitarian regimes. The Acquis Communautaire protects all member states’ citizens under the rule of law. Anyone who doubts the existence of …Read More
Masciandaro, D. and Passarelli, F., (2013), “Single supervision and resolution rules: Is ECB independence at risk?”, VoxEU, 21 December. During the Great Moderation, central banks focused on price stability, and independence was seen as crucial to limit inflation bias. Since the Global Financial Crisis, emergency support measures for banks, and central banks’ increasing involvement in supervision, have called central bank independence into question. This column argues that the literature has …Read More
Münchau, W., (2013), “An exercise in prolonging a banking credit crunch”, The Financial Times, 22 December. The lousy agreement on banking union will produce the financial sector equivalent of austerity The agreement on a eurozone banking union is neither a glass half full, nor half empty. As many commentators are saying, last week’s deal is hideously complex, and a common resolution mechanism without a fiscal backstop for failed banks is …Read More
Blanchard, O., Ostry, J. and Ghosh, A., (2013), “Overcoming the obstacles to international macro policy coordination is hard”, VoxEU, 20 December. The world has just been through a period of unprecedented macro policy activism. More is set to come as central banks exit unconventional policies, governments fix their fiscal positions, and financial regulations are reformed. These national policies have undeniable international spillovers. This column argues that the setting is ripe …Read More
Davies, H., (2013), “The Fox and the ECB”, Project Syndicate, 19 December. A French business magazine recently ranked IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde the most internationally influential French person alive – well ahead of President François Hollande. While politics may have influenced that particular decision, there is no doubt that Lagarde is at least the most prominent French woman alive. Lagarde’s competition in this category is not particularly stiff. Valérie …Read More
