Daily Archives: December 14, 2011

Alan Beattie So, about that IMF €200bn…

December 14, 2011 11:28 pm by Alan Beattie

It is not for the first time that late-night eurozone summit announcements are looking ragged in the daylight.

The €200bn the EU was supposed to contribute to the IMF (€150bn eurozone, €50bn non-eurozone) turns out not to include certain contributors (for example the UK, until the initiative turns into a global funding round, and Estonia).

The global funding round won’t happen until the eurozone gets its act in gear, and the odd numbers that are dribbling out of capitals so far — maybe €10bn from Moscow, maybe €8bn-€10bn from Brasilia — are underwhelming. Read more

Posted in Foreign affairs |

Gideon Rachman Newt Gingrich, the human hand grenade

December 14, 2011 6:16 pm by Gideon Rachman

The latest polls in the race for the Republican Party nomination are pretty stunning. One puts Newt Gingrich no less than 17 points ahead of his nearest rival. If Gingrich does indeed win the nomination, it will be striking proof that political commentators are not nearly as powerful as some people reckon. In recent days, Gingrich has been the subject of some devastating attacks. Strikingly, the most withering articles have actually come from the ranks of his fellow conservatives. Read more

Posted in US politics |