Category: UK & Europe

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The World from Berlin: Will Merkel Change Her Tune on Euro Bonds? – SPIEGEL ONLINE

The left-leaning Berliner Zeitung writes:

“People in the euro crisis have become accustomed to one constant: What Chancellor Angela Merkel categorically rejects today can still be implemented tomorrow. That makes the euro-bond debate … so exciting. A ‘no’ from Berlin doesn’t necessarily mean the last word.”

“There are many indications that Germany will have to finally give in again and accept one of two solutions: Either increased bond purchases by the ECB or euro bonds. But in exchange, Merkel will exact a price. She wants to use the acute urgency to construct a euro zone that corresponds to her vision…. If Europe allows this new currency union with rigid controls for countries that exceed debt limits, then Merkel will open herself up to things she has so adamantly rejected. But she’s begun a dangerous game. It could come to pass that that the currency union she wants to stabilize according to German plans may no longer exist. Then even the best treaty amendments won’t help.”

via The World from Berlin: Will Merkel Change Her Tune on Euro Bonds? – SPIEGEL ONLINE – News – International.

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The Wages of Economic Ignorance – Robert Skidelsky – Project Syndicate

Despite austerity, the forecast of this year’s UK structural deficit has increased from 6.5% to 8% – requiring an extra £22 billion ($34.6 billion) in cuts a year. Prime Minister David Cameron and Chancellor George Osborne blame the eurozone crisis; in fact, their own economic illiteracy is to blame. Unfortunately for all of us, the explanation bears repeating nowadays. Depressions, recessions, contractions – call them what you will – occur because the private-sector spends less than it did previously. This means that its income falls, because spending by one firm or household is income for another.

In this situation, government deficits rise naturally, as tax revenues decline and spending on unemployment insurance and other benefits rises. These “automatic stabilizers” plug part of the private-sector spending gap. But if the government starts reducing its own deficit before private-sector spending recovers, the net result will be a further decline in total spending, and hence in total income, causing the government’s deficit to widen, rather than narrow. True, if governments stop spending altogether, deficits will eventually fall to zero. People will starve to death in the interim, but the budget will be balanced.

via The Wages of Economic Ignorance – Robert Skidelsky – Project Syndicate.

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Self-serving myths of Europe’s neo-Calvinists – Telegraph Blogs

From a paper by Philip Whyte and Simon Tilford for the Centre for European Reform… a pro-EU group with a broadly free-market leaning.

Eurozone leaders now face a choice between two unpalatable alternatives. Either they accept that the eurozone is institutionally flawed and do what is necessary to turn it into a more stable arrangement. This will require some of them to go beyond what their voters seem prepared to allow, and to accept that a certain amount of ‘rule-breaking’ is necessary in the short term if the eurozone is to survive intact. Or they can stick to the fiction that confidence can be restored by the adoption and enforcement of tougher rules. This option will condemn the eurozone to self-defeating policies that hasten defaults, contagion and eventual break-up.

via Self-serving myths of Europe’s neo-Calvinists – Telegraph Blogs.

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Bond markets v. the Deficit Supercommittee – Evan Newmark

The bond markets will have their say. They have voted in Europe — electing new governments in Greece, Italy and Spain — and the time is fast approaching when they will cast their vote in the US as well.

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Cut in Europe Bank Lending Has Wide Impact – WSJ.com

European banks in recent years dramatically boosted lending to emerging markets and were among the biggest cross-border lenders in these countries. Their retreat has tightened credit in industries—from aircraft to media to mining — squeezing economies already feeling the effects of reduced demand from the developed world for their exports….”We’re in a very vulnerable position that’s definitely impacting global growth,” Gail Kelly, chief executive of Australia’s Westpac Bank said at The Wall Street Journal CEO Council last week. “It’s certainly impacting in my country and in Asia.”

via Cut in Europe Bank Lending Has Wide Impact – WSJ.com.

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Europe: breach of medium-term support would signal decline

Italy’s MIB index is testing medium-term support at 15000 on the weekly chart. Failure — and respect of the descending trendline — would warn of another decline, with a target of 9000*. Breach of primary support at 13000 would confirm.

FTSE MIB Index

* Target calculation: 13 − ( 17 − 13 ) = 9

France’s CAC-40 index is similarly testing support at 3000. Breach of support would warn of another decline — as would reversal of 13-week Twiggs Money Flow below zero. Failure of primary support at 2700 would offer a target of 2000*.

CAC-40 Index

* Target calculation: 2700 – ( 3400 − 2700 ) = 2000

The DAX is also testing medium-term support. Reversal below 5600 would warn of another test of primary support at 5000. Failure of 5000 would offer a target of 3600*.

DAX Index

* Target calculation: 5000 – ( 6400 − 5000 ) = 3600

Even the FTSE 100 index is testing medium-term support. 13-Week Twiggs Money Flow looks stronger than its European neighbors, but reversal below zero would warn of a further decline. Breach of medium-term support at 5350 would warn of a test of primary support at 4800.

FTSE 100 Index

* Target calculation: 4800 – ( 5600 − 4800 ) = 4000

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Debt Crisis Contagion: The Euro Zone’s Deadly Domino Effect – SPIEGEL ONLINE – News – International

The main problem of a Greek exit from the euro zone is not necessarily the direct impact on banks. I believe our government when they say that they would be able to get that under control. The real problem is the next domino. The crisis will spread unchecked to Italy. If Greece leaves the euro zone, then owners of Greek bonds will lose their entire investment. At best, the Greeks would pay them back a small part of their investment — in almost worthless drachmas.

So what kind of investor in his or her right mind would purchase Portuguese, Spanish or Italian sovereign bonds in this kind of situation? Not even a yield of 7 percent can make up for all the risk that Italy won’t be able to pay back its debt. As things now stand, Italy’s debt accounts for 120 percent of its annual GDP, growth is close to zero and the country is currently slipping into a deep recession. In fact, it’s a matter of mathematical inevitability that Italy won’t be able to service its loans if interest rates on its sovereign debt don’t fall. Granted, there have to be reforms. But reforms don’t resolve an acute debt crisis. We’ve already learned that lesson from other crises.

via Debt Crisis Contagion: The Euro Zone’s Deadly Domino Effect – SPIEGEL ONLINE – News – International.

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The Anatomy of Global Economic Uncertainty – Mohamed A. El-Erian – Project Syndicate

Mohamed A. El-Erian, CEO of PIMCO, describes four key dynamics that will shape the future of the global economy:

  1. Many economies have built up excessive debt that is now causing market instability. They have three options for de-leveraging: default, like Greece; austerity, like the UK; or “financial repression” like the US — where “interest rates are forced down so that creditors, including those on modest fixed incomes, subsidize debtors”.
  2. Economic growth would reduce the ratio of debt to incomes: “Many countries, including Italy and Spain, must overcome structural barriers to competitiveness, growth, and job creation through multi-year reforms of labor markets, pensions, housing, and economic governance. Some, like the US, can combine structural reforms with short-term demand stimulus. A few, led by Germany, are reaping the benefits of years of steadfast (and underappreciated) reforms.”
  3. It is also important that the benefits of economic growth be shared across the entire community,  reducing income inequality and related social instability.
  4. Political systems in Western democracies, designed to support the status quo, are ill-equipped to deal with these “structural and secular changes”. Failure to adjust is the greatest risk.

“Those on the receiving end of these four dynamics – the vast majority of us – need not be paralyzed by uncertainty and anxiety. Instead, we can use this simple framework to monitor developments, learn from them, and adapt. Yes, there will still be volatility, unusual strains, and historically odd outcomes. But, remember, a global paradigm shift implies a significant change in opportunities, and not just risks.”

via The Anatomy of Global Economic Uncertainty – Mohamed A. El-Erian – Project Syndicate.

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Banks Face Funding Stress – WSJ.com

LONDON—European banks, increasingly concerned about their ability to access funding, are devising complex and potentially risky new deals that enable them to continue borrowing from the European Central Bank…..

They also are a sign that struggling banks across Europe are preparing for a period of prolonged reliance on financial lifelines from the ECB. The Continent’s intensifying financial crisis has made it difficult for many banks to obtain funding from customary market sources.

via Banks Face Funding Stress – WSJ.com.

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