In the "austerity or smth else" panel @ #lennartmeri moderator/speakers confuse joint fiscal capacity in the eurozone w| debt mutualisation
10 minutes ago
Category Archive: Uncategorized
-
Did You Know? S&P PIIGS Ratings Edition
With the two-notch downgrade of Spain to BBB- by by S&P (link and link), I figured that this is as good a time as any to start a series called “Did You Know?”. Let’s start with the S&P’s ratings edition and a chart featuring the ratings migration across the periphery economies Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, and Spain [...]
-
Euro Area Budget? More on Tax Rates
Megan Greene comments on the leaked plan for a common eurozone budget via Herman Van Rompuy’s draft proposal. Specifically, Megan outlines key reasons why she thinks we shouldn’t ‘hold our breath’ on a common EZ budget anytime soon (a .pdf link to the proposal via Peter Spiegel at the FT). Her points are well taken. I [...]
-
Euro area periphery countries seeing improved monetary policy transmission mechanism
The ECB released its August report of euro area MFI interest rates (link .pdf). According to mortgage and non-financial corporate lending rates, the transmission channel of monetary policy to the periphery economies improved through August. See this post for links and associated detail on the ‘hampered’ transmission channel. Since the outset of the ECB’s most recent rate-cutting cycle [...]
-
Follow-Up: Who Has the Most Debt in the US?
Yesterday’s post on US debt by sector brought up some interesting comments. Specifically, that there’s a stark difference between federal debt and private-sector debt (households and/or non-financial businesses). Household and non-financial business obligations are true liabilities in the sense that there’s a party on the other side that requires payment in a currency which must be [...]
-
Who has the most debt in the US?
This was the question posed to a group of my colleagues as regards the merits of US fiscal and monetary policy: guess who has the most debt in the US economy? Everyone at the table said ‘the government’. When most pundits talk of ‘government debt’ they are inherently referring to federal government, who is not [...]
-
Unemployment Rates Across the Euro Area – Tough Times in Key Markets
Today Eurostat released its unemployment rate figures for the month of August. The Euro area unemployment rate held firm at 11.4% for the third consecutive month. Spain still has the highest unemployment rate in the euro area, 25.1%, and Greece is catching up quickly, 24.4% (in June, which is the latest data point). The chart below illustrates [...]
-
Policy Transmission Mechanism: Broken in Italy, Better in Spain
Yesterday, the Financial Times reported that borrowing costs for small businesses in the periphery were rising relative to the core using the ECB’s release of July MFI interest rate data. I highlighted this point exactly on August 1 following Draghi’s now famous London speech, where he cautioned that monetary transmission mechanism is ‘hampered’. As opposed [...]
-
Dutch Domestic Demand Dragging Real Home Values
Today Statistics Netherlands (CBS) warned ”House Prices Nosedive“. Prices of existing owner-occupied dwellings sold in July 2012 were on average 8.0 percent down from July 2011. This is the most substantial price drop since the price index of existing residential property was first recorded in 1995. In real terms and indexed to 2005, home values are [...]
-
It’s the Exchange Rate, Stupid
Eurostat released trade figures today, where the trade balance (exports less imports) surged €3.7 bn in the month of June (link to the .pdf release). The current figures imply a 2012 annualized trade balance of €66.9 bn, which is a meaningful boost to the -€7.4 bn deficit in 2011. Eurostat breaks down the regional figures further into intra-Euro [...]
-
The NY Times Is Misleading. And Who Is Correct? Eurostat or China Customs?
The NY Times reports quite a dire situation as regards the slump in the value of Chinese exports to the European Union in July: Data published this month showed that China’s exports to the European Union had sunk 16.2 percent in July to $29.4 billion, compared with July 2011. This statistic (bolded by yours truly) [...]
