GIE - Gas Infrastructure Europe - Officers. Form is Function, Design by Design.
An Affair to Remember. An encounter with Ma Anand Sheela, Osho’s former personal secretary and author of a controversial bare-all memoir In 1985, when Indian spiritual guru Osho Rajneesh was trying to expand his influence in Australia, an Australian television network had interviewed his then secretary, Ma Anand Sheela.
Osho, or Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh as he liked to call himself, was a controversial figure by then. He was known for his liberal views on sex and there were rumours of orgies in his communes. He had also drawn infamy for his vast collection of Rolls-Royces and expensive watches. The interviewer, Ian Leslie of Nine Network’s 60 Minutes, somewhat alarmed at the expansion of the cult in Australia, had asked Sheela, why she was in the country when no one wanted her. Ecole normale supérieure - Archives. Search. "Euro Crisis: If We're Heading Towards a 1930s-Style Depression. Exit from comment view mode.
Click to hide this space We seem to be heading towards an economic downturn equivalent to the Great Depression of the 1930s. This isn't a secret. The synthesis below is derived from: Lawrence Summers, Nouriel Roubini, Simon Johnson, Niall Ferguson, Paul Krugman to name just a few. This crisis is not happening quickly. Greece and Spain already have unemployment rates exceeding 20 percent. "What Euro Crisis?" by Norbert Walter. Exit from comment view mode.
Click to hide this space FRANKFURT – What constitutes a crisis? Is it sustained economic decline, high and long-term unemployment, poverty, rampant inflation, a precipitous fall in the exchange rate, fiscal deficits, high borrowing costs, and political dysfunction? Why the EU summit decisions may destabilise government bond markets. This was the nth summit meeting of European leaders billed as finally solving the Eurozone crisis.
Yet there were a number of important and useful decisions taken at last week’s summit: A new banking union with a European supervisor that has some teeth; andthe possibility of organising recapitalisations of banks at the European level. These are both positive steps. The last one in particular is important. "Banking Disunion" by Xavier Vives. Exit from comment view mode.
Click to hide this space BARCELONA – The line of credit to Spain from fellow eurozone governments may help to stabilize a fragile banking system, at least in the short term, but it is a missed opportunity. Spain’s banking crisis provides a perfect opening to move towards a European banking union. The financial crisis five years on: share your stories. It was, said former Northern Rock boss Adam Applegarth, "the day the world changed. " On 9 August 2007, the Newcastle-based bank suddenly found itself unable to finance its business on the world's money markets. Without access to those funds, it could no longer provide mortgages or loans to its customers.
Member State Issues. Tips from the Trenches: Best Blogger Productivity Tools. There Is No Invisible Hand - Jonathan Schlefer. By Jonathan Schlefer | 10:06 AM April 10, 2012 One of the best-kept secrets in economics is that there is no case for the invisible hand.
After more than a century trying to prove the opposite, economic theorists investigating the matter finally concluded in the 1970s that there is no reason to believe markets are led, as if by an invisible hand, to an optimal equilibrium — or any equilibrium at all. But the message never got through to their supposedly practical colleagues who so eagerly push advice about almost anything.
Most never even heard what the theorists said, or else resolutely ignored it. Of course, the dynamic but turbulent history of capitalism belies any invisible hand. Adam Smith suggested the invisible hand in an otherwise obscure passage in his Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations in 1776. Wen says China has stake in helping Europe.
Independent Eagle Eye - Breaking views from Independent commentators. The Global Future of Europe’s Crisis - Kemal Derviş. Exit from comment view mode.
Click to hide this space WASHINGTON, DC – It is now clear that the eurozone crisis will continue well into 2012, despite early February’s recovery in stock markets. Negotiations between Greece and the banks over Greek sovereign debt may yet be concluded, but sufficiently wide participation by banks in the deal remains very much in doubt. Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund has raised the issue of official-sector debt reduction, possibly even by the European Central Bank, sending the message that a “haircut” for private bondholders will not be enough to return Greece to financial sustainability. The IMF’s concerns are valid, but the Fund’s idea is being resisted fiercely, owing to fears of political contagion: other debt-distressed eurozone countries might press for equal treatment.
Of course, some positive steps have been taken. But being a creditor does not provide strong protection, either. "How to Compete in Europe" by Philippe Maystadt. Exit from comment view mode.
Click to hide this space. The Competitiveness Crisis - By Uri Dadush. The recent news from Europe could hardly be more unsettling for those who desperately wanted to believe that the eurozone was finally finding its way out of the region's imbroglio.
The collapse of the Dutch coalition government over budget cuts dramatically called into question the commitment of the staunchest supporter of the German hard line on the need for fiscal austerity. On the same day, the National Front, whose platform calls for an exit from the euro, gained a record 18 percent of the vote in the first round of the French presidential elections. And the results confirmed François Hollande, who wants to renegotiate the European Union's recent German-inspired fiscal pact to create room for growth policies, as a firm favorite to wrest the presidency from Nicolas Sarkozy.
Europe’s Vicious Spirals - Barry Eichengreen. Exit from comment view mode.
Click to hide this space BERKELEY – The euro crisis shows no signs of letting up. While 2011 was supposed to be the year when European leaders finally got a grip on events, the eurozone’s problems went from bad to worse. What had been a Greek crisis became a southern European crisis and then a pan-European crisis. Indeed, by the end of the year, banks and governments had begun making contingency plans for the collapse of the monetary union. None of this was inevitable. The Perils of Europe’s Navel Gazing - Ana Palacio. Exit from comment view mode. Click to hide this space MADRID – While the world anxiously awaits the climax of the eurozone drama, its leaders’ behavior resembles the political equivalent of what physicists call “Brownian motion,” with officials bouncing randomly from one crucial bilateral consultation and vital European summit to the next.
The impact of make-or-break declarations that are supposed to solve the monetary union’s problems dissipates almost as soon as they are issued. Meanwhile, a plethora of diagnoses and prescriptions are competing for attention – and in their gloominess. "The ECB’s Lethal Inhibition" by Barry Eichengreen. Exit from comment view mode. Click to hide this space BERKELEY – Last December, with Europe’s financial system on the brink of disaster, the European Central Bank stunned the markets with an unprecedented intervention, offering banks across the eurozone essentially unlimited liquidity against any and all collateral for an exceptional period of three years.
The ECB’s surprise liquidity operation put the continent’s crisis on hold. But now, just fourth months later, matters are again coming to a head. The big southern European countries, Spain and Italy, battered by austerity, are spiraling into recession. Once again, the eurozone appears to be on the verge of unraveling. The hurdles to further monetary-policy action are high, but they are largely self-imposed. But this increase in German labor costs is, in fact, precisely what Europe needs to accelerate its rebalancing, because it will help to realign the competitive positions of the northern and southern European economies.
Europe: A crisis of the centre. 24 April 2012Last updated at 08:06 ET Francois Hollande has declared that the world of finance is his enemy Last December Europe decided to outlaw expansionary fiscal policy.
"A Devaluation Option for Southern Europe" by Gita Gopinath. Exit from comment view mode. Click to hide this space CAMBRIDGE – This year is likely to mark a make-or-break ordeal for the euro. The eurozone’s survival demands a credible solution to its long-running sovereign-debt crisis, which in turn requires addressing the two macroeconomic imbalances – external and fiscal – which are at the heart of that crisis. The crisis has exposed the deep disparities in competitiveness that have developed within the eurozone. From 1996 to 2010, unit labor costs in Germany increased by just 8%, and by 13% in France. "Can Europe Be Saved?" by Alfred Gusenbauer. Exit from comment view mode. "Captured Europe" by Simon Johnson. Exit from comment view mode. Click to hide this space. "Whither Europe?" by Michael Boskin. "Golden Rules for the Eurozone" by Harold James. Exit from comment view mode. Click to hide this space LONDON – The European Monetary Union, as many of its critics maintain, looks a lot like the pre-1913 gold standard, which imposed fixed exchange rates on extremely diverse economies.
But is that resemblance as bad as it sounds, or as the euro’s critics insist? The appeal of the historic gold standard lay in an institutional capacity to build confidence. Credit FAQ: Factors Behind Our Rating Actions On Eurozone Sovereign Governments. "Europe’s Short Vacation" by Nouriel Roubini. Exit from comment view mode. Click to hide this space NEW YORK – Since last November, the European Central Bank, under its new president, Mario Draghi, has reduced its policy rates and undertaken two injections of more than €1 trillion of liquidity into the eurozone banking system. This led to a temporary reduction in the financial strains confronting the debt endangered countries on the eurozone’s periphery (Greece, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Ireland), sharply lowered the risk of a liquidity run in the eurozone banking system, and cut financing costs for Italy and Spain from their unsustainable levels of last fall.
Special Report: Mario Draghi's quiet revolution. The euro crisis: Central European lessons - Jacques Rupnik. Central European responses to the euro crisis have been marked by a total absence of regional solidarity, writes Jacques Rupnik. Europe’s Economic Suicide. Just a few months ago I was feeling some hope about Europe. "Rebalancing the Eurozone" by Kemal Derviş. Exit from comment view mode. "Illiquid Europe" by Stefano Micossi. "Alexander Hamilton’s Eurozone Tour" by Harold James. "Reversing Europe’s Renationalization" by George Soros. Never Say Never - By Uri Friedman. The Eurozone debt crisis: Why the IMF’s proposal is flawed. David Rosenberg: "It's Time To Start Calling This For What It Is: A Modern Day Depression" Europe’s Debt Crisis Has Become a German Identity Crisis. Funds - Weekly Market Comment - Europe: Just Getting Warmed Up - October 17, 2011. Greek Debt, Angela Merkel, and the European Central Bank. The euro deal: No big bazooka.
Insight: Euro has new politburo but no solution yet. Insight into macroeconomics and the financial markets from the Financial Times. What Ancient Rome Could Teach About the Euro's Flaws. Euro-Zone Exit Scenarios: Germany Plans for Possible Greek Default - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International. Europe’s Darkness at Noon - Barry Eichengreen. Eurocrisis: the politics of no-longer-great powers. Europe united - in denial and myth-making. New Year, Same Crisis - George Soros. "Austerity According to St. Augustine" by Andres Velasco.
"After Austerity" by Joseph E. Stiglitz. "Europe’s Misguided Search for Growth" by Daniel Gros. Down with the Eurozone - Nouriel Roubini. The Wages of Economic Ignorance - Robert Skidelsky. The Fallen - By Joshua E. Keating. Europe’s Tobin Tax Distraction - Barry Eichengreen. "Tobin Trouble" by Mark Roe. "How not to restore confidence in eurozone banks" by Christopher T. Mahoney. "Eurozone Chutzpah and the IMF" by Simon Tilford. "Debt Reckoning for Europe" by Amar Bhidé. Spain Following in Ireland’s Footsteps « Euro Area Debt Crisis by Megan Greene. Bleak House - By David Rothkopf. "A Crisis in Full Flight" by Hans-Werner Sinn. "Steering Clear of the Euro Precipice" by Yannos Papantoniou. Europe's Zero-Sum Dilemma. The deep structure of the European crisis. "Living Europe’s Nightmare" by Christopher T. Mahoney.
Interview With Economist Paul Krugman on Euro-Zone Rescue Efforts. "The Wrong Austerity Cure" by Laura Tyson. Europe's New Normal. What History Can Explain About Greek Crisis. "The Accidental Empire" by George Soros. "Monnet’s Ghost" by Ian Buruma. "Reinventing the European Dream" by Anne-Marie Slaughter. "Can Science Save Europe?" by Helga Nowotny.
Cleaning up the mess: Bank resolution in a systemic crisis. "Which Eurobonds?" by Jeffrey Frankel. Reflexivity, Soros and three months for the euro. "How Europe Can Rescue Europe" by George Soros. "An Agenda for Europe’s Weary Magicians" by Jean Pisani-Ferry.
Finance. Neville Chamberlain was Right - J. Bradford DeLong. Rational Irrationality: Beware of Greeks Bearing Referendums. "Rescuing the eurozone: What would Isabel Peron do?" by Christopher T. Mahoney. Europe’s Market-Led Integration - Joschka Fischer. The Weekend Interview With Norman Davies: The Emperor of Vanished Kingdoms. "The ECB can easily save the eurozone" by Christopher T. Mahoney.