Europe Economics Weekly The euro-zone’s multiplying woes The IMF’s analysis suggesting that “fiscal multipliers” are rather bigger than many governments have been assuming does not tell us much that we did not already know about the euro-zone. It’s pretty... 15th October 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Is the Greek bail-out starting to crumble? Successful bond auctions by the Spanish and Portuguese Governments last week, coupled with signs that other markets may also be starting to function more normally, provided further glimmers of hope... 8th October 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Small steps forward don't lift the uncertainty Developments in the euro-zone last week brought the implementation of more decisive policy action to tackle the region’s debt crisis an important step closer. Most notably, the Spanish budget included... 1st October 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Spain's waiting game is a risky one So far at least, the Spanish Government’s decision to delay seeking a bail-out does not seem to have backfired. After all, Spanish government bond yields remain low by recent standards. But the... 24th September 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Further glimmers of hope Last week’s developments bolstered hopes that the euro-zone has finally reached a “turning point”. Indeed, given the further falls in peripheral government bond yields, some optimists even questioned... 17th September 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Has the game really changed? While the very positive response to the ECB’s plans to undertake “Outright Monetary Transactions” (OMTs) is not entirely without foundation, it at least looks over the top. On close inspection, the... 7th September 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Consumer outlook darkens Data published last week did nothing to alter the picture of a rapidly worsening outlook for domestic spending throughout the euro-zone. Consumer sentiment in the periphery is now only a touch above... 31st August 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Is this the real crunch time for Greece? Given the number of “crunch times”, “end-games” and “abysses” that Greece has faced over the last two years, it would be easy to dismiss the latest speculation that the tragedy is about to reach its... 24th August 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Core’s export resilience won’t last The most surprising element of last week’s Q2 GDP figures was the robustness of exports from France and Germany. Previously strong demand from Asia and the US appears to have been the key, while the... 17th August 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Action will need to follow words before long Two weeks after Mario Draghi’s pledge to do whatever it takes to save the euro, his words have still not been followed by actions. Indeed, an impasse appears to have ensued in which the major players... 10th August 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly ECB ups the pressure on governments The ECB’s statement last week that it might buy more peripheral government bonds if countries first apply to the EFSF for support was a step forward. But Spain and Italy are not yet willing to accept... 3rd August 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Three little words The markets got very excited about three little words at the end of last week. Spanish and Italian bond yields plunged, and the euro and euro-zone stock markets rose sharply, in response to ECB... 27th July 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Hopes of near-term policy boost fade further Developments last week confirmed that support for the periphery from the region’s core governments will be slow in coming. Some attention has turned back to the ECB for policy support, but it has very... 20th July 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Weaker currency won’t bail out the euro-zone The drop in the euro exchange rate to its most competitive trade-weighted level in over nine years might appear to improve the euro-zone’s growth prospects and reduce the need for the uncompetitive... 13th July 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Is the ECB out of ammo? After cutting interest rates to a historic low last week, ECB President Mario Draghi suggested that there was little more that the ECB could do. As far as conventional policy is concerned, this may... 9th July 2012 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Sensible changes, but no big cure Against a background of low expectations, the changes agreed at the EU Summit to tackle several issues which threatened to inhibit the effectiveness of short-term support measures came as a pleasant... 29th June 2012 · 1 min read
