Europe Economics Weekly Has Greece already crossed the Rubicon? Political deadlock in Greece has reignited fears it could be on cusp of a euro-zone exit. The most likely outcome of another election is a victory for the pro-bail-out New Democracy and PASOK parties... 14th May 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Austerity is the best policy Despite weaker survey data, the ECB is in no hurry to sanction further measures to boost euro-zone growth. It feels the existing accommodative policy stance is providing the region with the basic... 7th May 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Growth talk is cheap Last week saw what appeared to be an encouraging outbreak of unity amongst euro-zone policymakers on the need to supplement fiscal austerity with bigger efforts to boost economic growth. But talk is... 30th April 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly German consumer boom is a myth The recent resilience of the German economy has prompted us to become a little more upbeat regarding its prospects. But notwithstanding the continuing falls in unemployment, we suggest that talk of a... 23rd April 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly The ECB has limited ammunition Markets last week seized on hints from the ECB that it may restart its bond purchase programme in an attempt to contain Spanish bond yields. But there are clear doubts over whether the ECB has the... 16th April 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Draghi buries the silver bullet Any lingering hopes that the European Central Bank (ECB) had either already solved the euro-zone crises or would yet come riding to the rescue with much more decisive action were surely put to bed by... 9th April 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Bigger firewall is a small step forward The reported plans to increase the size of the euro-zone bail-out fund - hopefully to be agreed at today’s (Friday’s) Eurogroup meeting - provide some encouragement that the policymakers have... 2nd April 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly LTRO sparkle starting to fade Last week brought the strongest signs yet that the post-LTRO bout of optimism is starting to wear off. Hopes that the ECB’s operations would drive a pick-up in the euro-zone economy were dealt a blow... 26th March 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Weak labour market underlines divergence with US Labour market data published last week confirmed that, in contrast to their counterparts in the US, euro-zone firms continued to lay off workers at the end of last year. Timelier indicators suggest... 19th March 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Greek deal does not eliminate break-up risks On the face of it, recent developments like the Greek debt restructuring deal and the ECB’s liquidity operations appear to have strongly undermined our view that a limited form of euro-zone break-up... 12th March 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Will stubborn inflation scupper recovery hopes? Recent euro-zone price developments suggest that inflation will remain stubbornly high over the coming months and damage previous hopes that sharp falls in inflation would partly offset the negative... 5th March 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Growth plans are too long term After forcing yet more austerity on Greece in return for the new rescue package agreed last week, some European leaders finally appeared to adopt a more positive focus, by presenting “A Plan for... 27th February 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly France won't stay in the lead for long Q4’s GDP figures revealed that France was one of the few euro-zone economies to expand at the end of last year. But prospects for French exports are marred by fairly weak competitiveness and a... 20th February 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Greece on the brink, yet again The immense difficulties in finalising a second rescue package and debt restructuring for Greece have pushed the country right to the brink once more. Even if the policymakers manage again to step... 13th February 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Compact agreed, but economies diverge While European leaders have now agreed to the fiscal compact proposed last year, its terms have been diluted significantly. Meanwhile, their economies have continued to diverge. Most worryingly, while... 6th February 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Could Germany yet save the euro? Worries about the Greek debt deal were offset last week by greater optimism towards Germany. Not only were there further signs of a pick-up in the economy, but Angela Merkel hinted that she would be... 30th January 2012 · 1 min read
