euro

Gideon Rachman Mario Monti, Paul Krugman and Italian austerity

February 25, 2013 4:13 pm by Gideon Rachman
Mario Monti exits a voting booth on February 24 (AFP/Getty)

Mario Monti exits a voting booth on February 24 (AFP/Getty)

Paul Krugman has got in early to comment on the political demise of Mario Monti – who now seems certain to trail in fourth in the Italian elections. According to Krugman, Monti’s reputation for wisdom is wildly overblown. On the contrary, he more or less deserves his fate because he was “in effect, the proconsul installed by Germany.”

Worse, according to Krugman, Monti’s policies did not even work. As in the rest of southern Europe, the economy has shrunk and so debt-to-GDP ratios have risen. There was only one “piece of good news” in the Monti era – that “bond markets have calmed down.” However, Monti cannot claim the credit even for this, because it is “largely thanks to the stated willingness of the ECB to step in and buy government debt when necessary.”

As ever, with Krugman, the argument is forcefully made. But it misses out a crucial stage in the argument and therefore unfairly denigrates the role of Monti in stabilising the Italian economy. Remember, when Monti came to power, the steady rise in the interest rates that Italy was having to pay to finance its debt was eating up more and more of the Italian budget. There was a real prospect that Italy might simply be unable to finance itself through the bond markets – and that might have sparked a terminal crisis in the euro. Read more

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Posted in Italy, Italy elections |

Gideon Rachman European attitudes to “Europe”

May 29, 2012 7:27 pm by Gideon Rachman
GERARD CERLES/AFP/Getty Images

Gerard Cerles/AFP/Getty Images

The latest Pew poll on Europe has been given the provocative headline “European unity on the rocks”. And the survey results do indeed show that in six of eight countries surveyed, majorities believe that European integration has damaged their economies.

This is now true even of Spain (by a narrow majority) – and of France, Italy and Britain by large majorities. The only two places surveyed where majorities still think the EU has been good for prosperity are (predictably), Germany and Poland. Read more

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Posted in Europe |

Alan Beattie The falling euro and the crisis that wasn’t

January 11, 2012 6:00 pm by Alan Beattie

The euro has fallen to a 16-month low below $1.27 – run, run for your lives! Or recognise that it’s still around the trade-weighted average for the past decade and only slightly weaker in real terms than when it launched, that a weaker currency is just what a stricken economy needs and that there isn’t much sign that the fall is disorderly and hence generally hitting confidence in eurozone assets. (The eurozone authorities are doing that.) Read more

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Posted in Europe, Foreign affairs, World affairs |

Esther Bintliff Rolling blog: The eurozone crisis

September 26, 2011 2:20 pm by Esther Bintliff


As fears of a possible Greek default continue to sway financial markets, time is running short for policymakers to agree a solution to the eurozone crisis. The FT will be running live coverage of the latest developments here on our foreign affairs blog, The World.

All times are London time. Curated by Esther Bintliff, assistant Europe news editor in London, with contributions from FT correspondents around the world.

19.30: We’re wrapping up the blog for today, but we’ll be back on Tuesday to cover the latest developments from Greece – where a parliamentary vote is due to take place on the unpopular new property tax – and Germany, where the Greek prime minister is due to meet with chancellor Angela Merkel. In the meantime, please follow the rest of our coverage at ft.com/world

19.18: There was a teensy bit of good news today – or not so bad news. German business confidence, as measured by the Munich-based Ifo institute, fell in September – but by far less than in August. That counts as a positive in these turbulent times…

19.10: The European Central Bank is likely to significantly extend its provision of liquidity to banks next week as it seeks to counter the escalating eurozone debt crisis, reports Ralph Atkins, our Frankfurt bureau chief. But he says it’s still an open question whether the ECB will cut official interest rates as well.

18.55: Donal O’Mahony, global strategist at Davy Capital Markets, points out that the “current convulsions in global markets and economies offer some depressing comparisons to the events of 2008″:

“Once again, nerves are being shredded by the perception of bank solvency and liquidity risks, albeit this time with balance-sheet concerns more focussed on “toxic” sovereign than credit exposures… Once again, the spectre of another calamitous debt default now hangs heavily in the air.”

O’Mahony argues that while the eurozone’s crisis resolution efforts have thus far been hampered by “deep ideological conflicts”, a “more decisive policy approach may finally prevail”, given the dangerously high stakes: namely, the “entire fate of the single currency ideal hanging in the balance”.

18.40: Moves to save the euro have come and gone but it now looks like policymakers recognise the urgency of addressing the problems underlying the eurozone structure. In this video, Lex’s Vincent Boland and Nikki Tait discuss what needs to be done and whether we’ve reached a turning point.

 Read more

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Posted in Europe, Financial crisis, Global economy |