digitization of film RT “@mattyglesias: We’re on track for the lowest homicide rate in a century: http://t.co/NEl98mWIOE”
14 minutes ago
Category Archive: Europe
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Where We Are Now: A Reflection on the Reagan-Thatcher Legacy
Margaret Thatcher is dead. Thatcher and Ronald Reagan were seminal conservative politicians who came to power in 1979 and 1980 at the end of a period of profound transformation in the Anglo-American world. A postwar system forged in war, and built on a broad foundation of industrial labor, rising middle class prosperity, and an active [...]
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Thatcher Said We Have No Alternatives—Progress Requires We Prove Her Wrong
Summary: The people in Europe’s periphery suffer from a lack of alternatives. This locks them into two ugly choices: suffer years of austerity (with no end in sight), or futile (perhaps nihilistic) protests. In fact, the West as a whole has a lack of alternatives. Here we discuss that problem, and possible solutions. Contents The [...]
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Euro or Drachma, or Both? A Temporary Parallel Currency Concept
“Dramatic scenes in the streets of Athens; strikes are paralyzing all of Greece.” “Greek prime minister considers leaving the euro.” “German parliament will decide tomorrow whether to reject the refinancing of the public Greek debt due next month.” “Greek bank deposits are disappearing rapidly.” Introduction Numerous voices describe such headlines as a plausible future scenario. [...]
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Is Cyprus More Important Than You Think?
In 1938, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s 1938 decided to ignore “a quarrel in a far-away country between people of whom we know nothing.” The world has now convinced itself that Cyprus is simply not systemically important. They may be proved wrong. Firstly, the package for Cyprus remains vague pending analysis by the troika – the [...]
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Cyprus: Hope Trumps Reality
Cyprus has reached a tentative agreement with the IMF-EU-ECB team (Troika) on the economic program that will be backed by its €10 billion rescue package. The IMF will put €1 billion, small in absolute terms and relative to the one-third share that it has had in most of its European programs but a very high share (563 [...]
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More On Draghi
Comments from ECB President Draghi reiterating that the commitment to the euro is “vastly under-estimated” has helped the euro claw back its earlier losses entirely and a move above $1.2855, especially on a close basis, would be a very constructive technical development. Draghi seemed to get frustrated at the press conference with hypothetical questions about [...]
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State Aid and Europe’s Financial Sector
The recent IMF assessment of Europe’s financial sector found that much has been achieved to address the recent financial crisis in Europe, but vulnerabilities remain, and intensified efforts are needed across a wide front: Bank restructuring and resolution, fast and sustained progress toward an effective Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) and the banking union (BU), and further steps toward [...]
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Scenes From A Central Bank: A Turkish Tale in Two Acts
In mid 2010 the Turkish central bank decided to introduce a policy that increased uncertainty in interest rates hoping that would stop foreign investors who were pouring money into the country in search of a quick buck. That’s right. ‘Keep calm and carry on’ was replaced by ‘Keep them guessing.’ The Turkish economy was overheating. Money poured into [...]
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Flying to Ankara
By now all of us know about that Mediterranean island called Cyprus, forced to declare bankruptcy by its European brethren. Its Finance Minister, Michalis Sarris and President Nicos Anastasiades flew all over Europe including Russia for the best deal they could find to save their financial sector. That sector was built partially over the years on laundering ill-gotten gains by [...]
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Is the music about to stop again?
Yep, at least according to the Central Bank of Turkey: Jeremy Irons’ character in the movie Margin Call, the CEO of an investment bank, reveals at one point why he “earns the big bucks”: “I’m here for one reason and one reason alone. I’m here to guess what the music might do a week, a [...]
