EUROPE
The risk for Europe is not that monetary union blows up, but
rather that they manage to keep it going for a long time yet on unworkable
foundations, doing ever greater damage.
The Eurozone: If only
it were the 1930s – voxeu.org
The legacy of public
debt resulting from the crisis in the Eurozone is a serious threat. Both the
size of the problem and the options to address it make life much more difficult
for policymakers than was the case in the late 1930s after the collapse of the
gold standard. For some countries, a ‘subservient’ central bank might be
preferable to the ECB.
The euro should
either be made growth and employment friendly as fast as possible, or it should
be dismantled – Europp
/ LSE
Nobel laureate Christopher Pissarides was once a passionate believer in
the benefits of European monetary union. In light of the damaging effects of
the Eurozone crisis, he now writes that the euro requires urgent reforms to
restore its credibility. He argues that the single currency should either be
dismantled in an orderly way, or the direction of economic policy should be
altered substantially to promote growth and employment.
Message to the Euro:
You’re Flying Too High – WSJ
Like a tired, broken record, the euro exchange rate again highlights the
impotence of a monetary structure that saddles the euro zone with short-sighted
deflationary policies when central banks everywhere else have been pulling out
all stops to reflate their economies.
Continued financial
fragmentation will put ECB on the hook – Bruegel
Insufficient agreement on the banking union next week may force the ECB
to engage in non-standard monetary policy measures to fulfill its mandate
The results of the stress tests were revealed. Both the Slovenian
government and European authorities believe that they mean yet another bail-out
can be avoided, but their confidence may prove premature.
Fed officials haven’t sent a clear signal of what they are likely to do.
The critics of the program remain eager to start winding it down, while the
supporters generally have been noncommittal about what they want to do at the
meeting.
Taper Or No Taper -
What The FOMC Has Really Said – ZH
Deutsche believes there is a chance that the Fed’s institutional biases
lead it to taper earlier then the economic data might suggest is optimal.
Whilst Yellen may be able to push against some of these biases, 2014 will still
see a tightrope balancing act at the Fed as economics and institution bias
battle it out and increasing noise is made for forward guidance to replace QE
as the main tool of monetary policy activism.
Confusion Over The
Fed's [December|January|March] Taper – ZH
Estimates ranging from FOMC’s Dec. 17-18 meeting in Washington to Jan. or March,
based on published research.
It turns out that once you include the debt of the quasi-governmental
agencies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the US banks actually have
a higher proportion of their assets in governmental debt than Italy and Spain… risk lies in the
failure of the AQR and EBA to effectively identify weak banks; this would
subsequently challenge the credibility of the entire process.
Citi Unveils The 12
Charts Of Christmas – ZH
Global House Price
Index Surges To Record High – ZH
FINNISH
Irlannin velkasaneeraus yhä varsin
todennäköinen muista puheista huolimatta – Tyhmyri