The country’s hard-won welfare state system is in reverse gear, with rights and social justice being handed back to charities, as was the case in pre-constitutional Spain.
EU banking union: dismantling the concept bit by bit
The hoped-for effect of breaking the sovereign-bank-nexus is receding further and further away.
France: Low yields but rising unemployment
Even with low yields, soaring unemployment will be the defining force.
Cypriot Chaos Assists EU Centralization
What better way to unite the EU than a potentially catastrophic collapse of the euro?
The bail-in at Cypriot banks: European implications
This episode illustrates that investors have come to expect some sort of bail-in with future deals.
Small country, oversized financial sector: Really intolerable?
Several European politicians have opined that a large financial sector was an unacceptable business model for a small country.
Cyprus Forced Into Bailout Deal
For the first time in this crisis, the bailout does not cover depositors in full. Losses are to be suffered by not only shareholders and bondholders, but even by depositors. We expect future bailouts to incorporate this feature.
Cyprus Targets Its Savers in Bailout Agreement
They have hit their savers with a grievous blow, and this will do irreparable harm to trust and confidence.
Lest we forget: The neglected roots of Europe’s slide to authoritarianism
A multitude of evils can hide behind the ideological veil of top-down European integration.
Are Ireland and Portugal out of the woods?
Is there any justification in saying that these two countries are closer today to exiting their ward-of-the-troika status than they were last July, before Mr Draghi’s pronouncement that he will do all it takes to save the Eurozone?
Impact Of Germany’s Gold Repatriation
I suspect the reason for repatriating the gold has more to do with a shift in German politics than any sudden questions about the faith and credit of a central bank, or any desire to re-monetize gold in Germany.
German Gold Claw Back Causes Concern
The repatriation of even a part of Germany’s central bank gold holdings should be regarded with concern.
France and the UK Could Be the Lynchpins of Europe
If either France faces an economic bailout or the UK votes to leave, the EU likely will begin to disintegrate.
On the sad algebra of the Greek Debt Buyback
At the end of the day, tens of billions of fresh loan tranches will have authored another nasty act in the cruel theatre of horrors that is the Greek bailout.
The Eurozone after the November Eurogroup ‘Greek Deal’: The state of (current) play
The repercussions of this short-sighted agreement are grave not only for Greece but for the Eurozone, and indeed the European Union, more broadly.
Washington’s European Cliff
The concern today, especially for Washington, is to keep the European utopia alive for as long as possible.
Why Spain is edging to the brink
Spaniards are now rejecting the cynical confiscatory policies that aim to bailout an insolvent system managed by morally-insolvent politicians.
Esperanza Aguirre abandons Rajoy’s ship as political storm nears
Esperanza Aguirre’s announcement last Monday that she will step down as leader of Madrid’s regional government comes at a delicate time for Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.
As The Euro Tumbles, Spaniards Look to Gold
As the crisis deepens, there is still a window of opportunity for Spaniards to turn to gold as a means to protect their wealth against the risks of increased foreign exchange volatility, forced re-denomination, or even a total currency collapse.
Draghi Acts: Is It Inflationary?
Despite the overwhelming evidence that money printing doesn’t work, the Eurozone overlords will to do it anyway.
