Category Archives: European Politics

The World’s “Big Economic Headache”

One of the keynote speakers, Dr. Angela Merkel, spoke to the attendees at Davos with a message sprinkled with stark realism regarding the difficult challenges facing Europeans yet encouraging them to reach for "new methods" to build for a more prosperous future. She asked Europe to learn lessons from the current crisis and help define what their role will be in shaping the future of the world. While Europe currently comprises about 7 percent of the world's population and 20 percent of the GDP, it is probably perceived as the " big economic headache" for the world economy right now, she lamented to the crowd.
Posted on January 25, 2012 By Tim Roemer
Also posted in EU Policy, Finance, Foreign Policy | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Can Italy Derail the U.S. Recovery?

As the United States sees its unemployment rate drop from 9.5 percent to 8.5 percent having created approximately 1.6 million part- and full-time jobs in 2011, a slow but steady growth path seems to open up for 2012 with a forecast of 2.5-3 percent growth for the country as well as for the global economy. Its exorbitant indebtedness would have been deadly if investors were not considering the United States as the strongest credit in the world, and clearly continue to purchase U.S. Treasuries at record low interest rates. With China and India still expected to grow by 8 and 6 percent respectively, the threat should not come from emerging markets.
Posted on January 10, 2012 By Virtual Vantage Points
Also posted in EU Policy, Finance, Foreign Policy | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Growth, Growth, Growth: Reviving the UK economy

Announcing today’s Autumn Statement was undoubtedly one of the biggest challenges of George Osborne’s chancellorship. The backdrop for the budgetary statement was one of economic gloom and doom, and after 18 months in power, criticism of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition’s austerity plan to rescue the economy has intensified. Mr. Osborne had to prove that the government can successfully steer the UK economy away from the brink of another recession. Faced with this challenge, the Chancellor also had to consider the British population’s need for extra cash in their pockets, and UK businesses’ need for greater access to funds and investment. Importantly, as the Eurozone crisis continues to engulf the continent, Mr. Osborne had to demonstrate to the markets that Britain had a plan to tackle its debt and would continue to meet its financial commitments.
Posted on November 29, 2011 By Virtual Vantage Points
Also posted in UK Politics, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The Spanish Elections

General elections were held in Spain on 20 November to determine the composition of the country’s Congress of Deputies (lower house) and Senate (upper house) for the next four years. The lower chamber will have to choose the country’s prime minister and government for the same period. These elections have been profoundly marked by the economic crisis. Indeed, as pressure from international markets mounted and unemployment increased, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero was forced to bring forward the elections by six months. The economy completely monopolised the debate during the electoral campaign.
Posted on November 23, 2011 By Paolo Nicoletti
Also posted in EU Policy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Political Developments in Greece: From Papandreou to Papademos

Loukas Papademos, former vice president of the European Central Bank and a former senior economic advisor to outgoing Prime Minister George Papandreou, was appointed as the new interim prime minister for Greece on 11 November. Papandreou decided to step aside for a unity government after an intense political backlash following his proposal to hold a referendum on the second international aid package for Greece. The Aborted Referendum The referendum proposal from Papandreou was driven primarily by domestic politics, after months of international efforts to secure a deal which left the average Greek citizen feeling disenfranchised and unfairly criticised by their European neighbours. Greek citizens felt strongly that their sovereignty had been taken away and that they were being dictated to. This was coupled with Papandreou’s own personal political philosophy of acting in the interests of his electorate.
Posted on November 18, 2011 By Paolo Nicoletti
Also posted in Crisis, EU Policy, Finance | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

How Did European Banks Trap Themselves in a Replay of the 2007 Crisis?

At a conference in New York at the end of 2008, Obama's economic advisor, Larry Summers made a prophetic remark at an event organized by the Economist. He told an audience of Wall Street executives that we should never assume that bankers ever learn from their own mistakes. "We, as regulators, should never assume that the banks would amend themselves. Since 1960, banks have been in crisis every three years in one part of the world or another."
Posted on September 12, 2011 By Georges Ugeux
Also posted in Finance | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment