The euro
The eurozone and the US: A tale of two currency zones
21 November 2011
The US and the eurozone are very different monetary unions. These differences explain why financial markets are picking on the eurozone and not the US.
Why stricter rules threaten the eurozone
09 November 2011
To restore confidence in the eurozone, leaders must fix its institutional flaws and stretch some rules in the interim. Instead, they are doing the opposite.
Eurozone crisis: Higher inflation is part of the answer
03 October 2011
The ECB’s inflation target is too low for a currency union. It risks depressing economic growth and makes it hard for countries like Spain and Italy to regain competitiveness.
Sticking to the rules will not rescue the eurozone
28 September 2011
Most events have an official – or at any rate widely accepted – narrative. In much of Europe, the narrative of the eurozone crisis goes something like this: this is not a crisis of the eurozone, which has been a success.
Merkel's euro shackles
28 September 2011
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s apparent inability or unwillingness to take bold steps could sink the euro. Yet is it even realistic to expect her to overcome growing opposition from within her own coalition government, a hostile public mood and the red lines drawn by a powerful constitutional court? Merkel cannot...
The euro: Reaching the endgame?
19 September 2011
Eurozone policy-makers have dug in their feet, preferring to deepen the crisis than admit their mistakes. Unless reason trumps moral posturing soon, dissolution of the eurozone is inevitable.
Eurozone crisis: Can contagion to Italy be arrested?
05 August 2011
The eurozone's debt crisis has spread to Italy. It is becoming increasingly doubtful that much-needed domestic economic reforms will be sufficient to restore market confidence in the country.
Was the euro summit a game changer?
01 August 2011
The pattern is now familiar. After prolonged and very public bickering, European leaders convene in Brussels to try and restore flagging confidence in the eurozone.
Europe's date with destiny
01 August 2011
Many people have quietly given up on the European Union. Not too long ago, Europe struggled long and hard to ratify the Lisbon treaty – now barely mentioned.
Why the eurozone needs debt mutualisation
28 July 2011
The attempt to run a common monetary policy without a common treasury has failed. Debt mutualisation is necessary if the eurozone is to survive.
Germany's brief moment in the sun
27 June 2011
Four years ago, Germany was widely seen as the sick man of Europe, beset by weak economic growth, a fast-ageing population and a pervasive sense of angst about the future.
Eurozone debt crisis: To restructure or not?
01 June 2011
In March, European leaders agreed a 'grand bargain' that was designed to restore flagging confidence in the eurozone. The deal, they hoped, would return the most troubled countries – Greece, Ireland and Portugal – to debt sustainability and prevent catastrophic contagion to other, larger economies such as Italy and Spain.
Debt restructuring will not end the euro crisis
09 May 2011
Even as the ink is still drying on Portugal’s EU/IMF ‘bail-out’ agreement, it is becoming clear that Greece’s 2010 bail-out has failed to improve the sustainability of its public finances.
The eurozone's grand bargain: Political pain without economic gain?
01 April 2011
Ever since the eurozone crisis broke out in late 2009, European leaders have sought to reconcile two mutually incompatible objectives: the need to restore market confidence in the zone's indebted periphery; and the unbending refusal of creditor countries in the core to turn the zone into a 'transfer union'.
Issue 77 - 2011
25 March 2011
- Europe needs a military avant-garde, Charles Grant
- The eurozone's grand bargain: Political pain without economic gain? , Philip Whyte
- The EU budget: The Union risks having the wrong debate, Stephen Tindale
Is Germany really rebalancing?
01 February 2011
Germany has rightly been criticised for its dependence on exports and its huge trade surpluses. In normal times, when economies are growing healthily, trade imbalances pose less of a problem.
Issue 76 - 2011
28 January 2011
- European political parties are the key to EU legitimacy, Sir Julian Priestley
- A new opportunity for EU foreign policy, Charles Grant, Katinka Barysch, Tomas Valasek
- Is Germany really rebalancing?, Simon Tilford
Can Greece be saved?
20 January 2011
Will Greece have to restructure its debt? Among most West European economists and investors, this now seems to be a foregone conclusion.
Euro crisis: In defence of investors
17 January 2011
The eurozone’s fiscal position is better than the US and UK, and the crisis-hit members of the currency union are doing more to strengthen their public finances than either of these countries.
Reflections on Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa and the euro
13 January 2011
At the end of last year, Europe lost Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, an eminent central banker and economist, and one of the founding fathers of the euro.