Thursday, May 22, 2014

European Parliament elections: a final look at the national campaigns

Ιωακείμ Γρυσπολάκης "Η ώρα της δεύτερης Μεταπολίτευσης: το τζίνι στο λυχνάρι"

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard "Europe's centre crumbles as Socialists immolate themselves on altar of EMU"

Economic benefits of EU membership – Vox Views with Nauro Campos | vox

Economic benefits of EU membership – Vox Views with Nauro Campos | vox

Monday, May 19, 2014

Transmission of Financial Stress in Europe: The Pivotal Role of Italy and Spain, but not Greece

IMF working paper , Apr.2014 (pdf)

...
Changes in the credit ratings of Greek sovereign debt, including news announced in the first quarter 2010 related to Greece’s bailout package, had no statistical effect on Germany’s SCDS.... One possible explanation for this is that Greece is seen as a country too small to affect Germany’s risk profile. In contrast, Italy and Spain–being much larger economies–could potentially destabilize Germany or the euro area, even though their likelihood of running into financial difficulties was perceived by the markets as comparatively smaller, based on their SCDS spreads

mainly macro: Keynesian economics works: Eurozone edition

mainly macro: Keynesian economics works: Eurozone edition: Paul Krugman is fond of saying that since the financial crisis, basic Keynesian economics has performed pretty well. Increases in governmen...

Saturday, May 10, 2014

Kevin O’Rourke : "Wither the EURO?"

Matt Yglesias at Vox : "They saved the eurozone; they just forgot to save the people"

Remember the eurozone crisis? You don't hear much about it anymore, which could easily lead you to the conclusion that the problems have been solved. And to an extent they have been. Nobody thinks the eurozone is going to collapse anymore, and nobody thinks there will be a worldwide banking panic. The only problem is vast swathes of the continent remain an economic disaster area. They saved the eurozone, but not the economies that it comprises or the people who live there.

Two blog posts commenting on it: one by Paul Krugman , and the other by Francesco Saraceno
Interesting read (cited by Yglesias) is this report by Patric Artus of Natixis,
2015 will not be the year when Spain, Italy and Portugal return to normal. When we look at the dynamics of unemployment, public and private debt, household and corporate solvency, and industrial production capacity, we see that it will take from 5 to more than 20 years to really return to normal. During this very long period, their economies will remain fragile; the Southern euro-zone countries will remain under the threat of a return of investor pessimism. 
 

Friday, May 9, 2014