Thursday 26 May 2011

Euro crisis leaves 'Experts' confused

The former head of the German Bundesbank, Axel Weber, claims that there is nothing wrong with the Euro per se but that closer control of the budgets in the member states are required. But keeping a lid on the deficits in the states will do little to make sure that the competitiveness of individual economies does not diverge too much over time. One will have to see if there is any appetite for Brussels to control wages and prices in each state in command-and-control style.
At the same time a Jeremy Warner (Daily Telegraph) forgets to consider that it would be perfectly simple for a member state of the Eurozone to default and reset the level of its internal and external indebtedness. The main obstacle in the way of this solution to the problems the PIGS face is that the banking systems in the Eurozone are dangerously overexposed to transnational lending.

Monday 16 May 2011

Wrong IMF official under investigation

Antonio Borges, the head of the IMF's European department thinks that the value of assets that Greece may be able to sell off could be as high as Euro 250 billion. We would risk a bet that this 'expert view' is at least twice the amount that might ever be reached in a fire-sale of Greek State assets. Given that our financial fate is in the hands of such experts one can only be pessimistic about the outlook for the financial system - and the Eurozone in particular.

Tuesday 10 May 2011

UK and Example for Euro Periphery?

UK Example for Euro Periphery Countries: Osborne
Maybe the Chancellor lives in another country, but one can only describe this statement as delusional. So far most policies are only intentions and what is saved on some measures is dissipated on additional spending schemes that are added without much democratic oversight.