fiscal union Archives - the patient investor

June 10, 2012

Berlin is ignoring the lessons of the 1930s – FT.com

Germans must understand that bank recapitalisation, European deposit insurance and debt mutualisation are not optional; they are essential to avoid an irreversible disintegration of Europe’s monetary union. If they are still not convinced, they must understand that the costs of a eurozone break-up would be astronomically high – for themselves as much as anyone.

After all, Germany’s prosperity is in large measure a consequence of monetary union. The euro has given German exporters a far more competitive exchange rate than the old Deutschmark would have. And the rest of the eurozone remains the destination for 42 per cent of German exports. Plunging half of that market into a new Depression can hardly be good for Germany.

via Berlin is ignoring the lessons of the 1930s – FT.com.

November 26, 2011

Fiscal union is the only real solution | Credit Writedowns

A fiscal union led by Germany would in effect force debtor nations who want more German and ECB support to surrender more of their fiscal sovereignty, in a binding way, to EU Commissioners, who would have greater authority in shaping national budgets and fiscal policies.

Rather than ECB bond buying or a common bond issuance being a solution to the problems, those activities are only possible once the solution is in place. Needless to say monetary union was a significant surrender of monetary sovereignty. However, by retaining fiscal sovereignty, countries found an escape hatch. A move to fiscal union is to close this loophole.

via Fiscal union is the only real solution | Credit Writedowns.

October 27, 2011

Europe’s Punishment Union – Ambrose Evans-Pritchard

As Sir John Major wrote this morning in the FT, this does not solve EMU’s fundamental problem, which is the 30pc gap in competitiveness between North and South, and Germany’s colossal intra-EMU trade surplus at the expense of Club Med deficit states.

It is therefore unlikely to succeed. It means that Italy, Spain, Portugal, et al must close the gap with Germany by austerity alone, risking a Fisherite debt deflation spiral. As I have written many times, this is a destructive and intellectually incoherent policy, akin to the 1930s Gold Standard. It risks conjuring the very demons that Mrs Merkel warns against.

Sir John is less categorical, but the message is the same. Europe will have to evolve into a fiscal union to make the system work….

via Europe’s Punishment Union – Telegraph Blogs.

October 3, 2011

NEIN, NEIN, NEIN, and the death of EU Fiscal Union – Telegraph Blogs

Bundestag president Norbert Lammert said yesterday, lawmakers had a nasty feeling that they had been “bounced” into backing far-reaching demands. This can never be allowed to happen again. He warned too that Germany’s legislature would not give up its fiscal sovereignty to any EU body.

…..Something profound has changed. Germans have begun to sense that the preservation of their own democracy and rule of law is in conflict with demands from Europe. They must choose one or the other.

via NEIN, NEIN, NEIN, and the death of EU Fiscal Union – Telegraph Blogs.