Ireland’s loan: the great bailout, or a great debt swindle?
29 Nov 2010 [0 Comments | 591 views]
It’s a tad confusing as to why the $113bn loan to Ireland is seen as such a bold step. The Irish government has forking out 5.8 per cent interest. According to our maths, that means the average household in Ireland is having to pay around $4,300 a year in interest payments. That strikes us as quite a [...]
Is Belgium like Greece, or Germany?
28 Nov 2010 [0 Comments | 603 views]
The problem in Belgium is several-fold. Not least the fact that the country has pulled off the impressive trick of simultaneously not having a government, but having massive levels of government debt. In other words, the government it does not have is in big trouble. But before you start rattling off jokes about famous people [...]
Portugal and Ireland – debts, wages and house prices: how do they really stand?
28 Nov 2010 [4 Comments | 1,038 views]
The problem with the bailout of Ireland is that the EU and the IMF are effectively saying to the markets – You are wrong. The markets have concluded that Ireland is a risky bet, and will only lend to the government at rates that would make the cost of servicing debt unbearable. So the EU [...]
Merkel irritates markets with some home truths
25 Nov 2010 [1 Comment | 2,003 views]
She only went along and did it again. Yesterday, and not for the first time, German Chancellor Angela Merkel suggested bondholders should be willing to do their bit and contribute to the great EU bailout by cutting their losses. And yields on bonds, or at least yields on bonds pertaining to certain countries, soared. For [...]
The Eurozone’s three Ds: default, default, and default
25 Nov 2010 [1 Comment | 595 views]
We have three observations to make on the latest shenanigans to hit the Eurozone. Firstly, default of some sort seems inevitable. Secondly, it seems that in a funny kind of way, Angela Merkel and arch-Keynesian Paul Krugman agree. Both seem to think that markets need to be encouraged to throw their money at business, and [...]
Ireland is not Greece
19 Nov 2010 [1 Comment | 325 views]
It’s nice when everyone starts agreeing with you. On Tuesday this column said that the real reason why Ireland does not want EU support is because she does not want to be forced to reduce corporate tax. In this morning’s news, just about all analysts seem to have started to say the same thing. Mind [...]
The Irish compromise
17 Nov 2010 [1 Comment | 336 views]
Maybe we have seen a way forward for saving Europe from a new banking crisis, without at the same time destroying the Irish economy. On the other hand, maybe we have seen another fudge. The big idea that seems to be coming out of the EU this morning is not so much to bail out [...]
Germany talks tough, Ireland teeters – Is the Euro the problem?
16 Nov 2010 [2 Comments | 680 views]
Normally if you hear the words “How would you like your hair today, Sir?”, or “What can we do for your hair today, Madam?”, you wouldn’t feel that concerned. There are two exceptions: exception number one would be if your barber was called Sweeney Todd, and also mentioned something about not having eaten a meat [...]
Eurozone very likely to change in near future, says Capital Economics
28 Oct 2010 [1 Comment | 863 views]
Greece is in trouble again, and so is Portugal, begging the question, should the two countries leave the single currency? Not so long ago, Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz called for Germany to leave the euro. And now Capital Economics has said that “the chances of some form of change to the eurozone over the next [...]
Germany powers ahead: can it last?
25 Oct 2010 [0 Comments | 256 views]
It’s been a busy few days in Germany, with one set of news after another bringing good news. There’s just the tiniest hint of troubles ahead, however. The Economics Ministry in Germany has been busy with its sums, adding up this column and that column, getting its abacus out to add it all together, and [...]
