What price the SNB’s cap?
The Swiss National Bank’s decision to cap the franc’s gains against the euro was a big gamble.
However, the SNB’s interim results for the year to September, out today, show that – so far – it’s paying off. For the first time this year, the central bank is back in black. And that’s partly down to the cap.
The results also offer some clue as to the size of the SNB’s interventions into foreign exchange markets. Read more
The ECB, religion and Europe
A European Central Bank research paper has taken a look at an issue deeper than the eurozone debt crisis – the impact of religion on economies.
The study does not represent official ECB views, but it is nevertheless interesting that it has been published. The ECB’s research output gives a flavour of its internal debates and perhaps European cultural divergences are on its mind. Read more
Sovereign haircuts and saving the eurozone’s banks
The emergence of a vicious circle between the health of a sovereign’s finances and that of its banks threatens the eurozone’s stability.
If markets’ fears of haircuts on sovereign debt wipe out banks’ capital buffers, then that would necessitate a recapitalisation. But a recapitalisation could, in turn, push states’ debt-to-GDP ratios above levels investors consider sustainable.
But, luckily, research which appeared on VoxEU.org on Sunday, based on a paper published by the think tank Bruegel earlier this month, indicates that, at present, the problem is confined to Greece.
Policymakers should be relieved. However, that the problem can be observed in Greece’s case highlights just how essential it is for the eurozone authorities to avoid any talk of haircuts for the likes of Italy. Read more
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Chris Giles has been the economics editor of the Financial Times since 2004. Based in London, he writes about international economic trends and the British economy. Before reporting economics for the Financial Times, he wrote editorials for the paper, reported for the BBC, worked as a regulator of the broadcasting industry and undertook research for the Institute for Fiscal Studies. RSS
Michael Steen, Frankfurt bureau chief, covers the ECB and the eurozone's economies. He joined the Financial Times in 2007 as Amsterdam correspondent and later worked as a front page news editor in London. Before joining the FT, he spent nine years as a correspondent at Reuters, mostly in foreign postings that included a previous stint in Frankfurt, as well as Moscow, Kiev and central Asia. He read German and Russian at Cambridge.RSS
Robin Harding is the FT's US economics editor, based in Washington. Prior to this, he was based in Tokyo, covering the Bank of Japan and Japan's technology sector, and in London as an economics leader writer. Robin studied economics at Cambridge and has a masters in economics from Hitotsubashi University, where he was a Monbusho scholar. Before joining the FT, Robin worked in asset management and banking. RSS
Ralph Atkins, capital markets editor, has been writing for the Financial Times for more than 20 years following an economics degree from Cambridge. From 2004 to 2012, Ralph was Frankfurt bureau chief, watching the European Central Bank and eurozone economies. He has also worked in Bonn, Berlin, Jerusalem and Brussels. RSS
Claire Jones is Money Supply economics team writer, based in London. Before joining the Financial Times, she was the editor of the Central Banking journal and CentralBanking.com. Claire studied philosophy and economics at the London School of Economics. RSS
