Europe Got the Buyout but Will It Get the Buy In?
The best that could be hoped for: That is the obvious way to look at the European Central Bank’s new plans to buy up the bonds of troubled members of the European Union. The markets loved the announcement last Thursday:…
As Merkel Goes, So Goes the European Union
The European Union is likely to take a step to finalize the Continent’s economic and financial recovery strategy. And make no mistake: We all have an interest in this phase of Europe’s protracted struggle to reshape itself. This Thursday, Mario…
China, Dying for Growth, Is Paying a High Price
You may have read about the bridge that collapsed in northern China this past weekend. It was all of nine months old. Four trucks went down with the 330-foot span that gave way: three deaths and five injuries. Poor design,…
Election 2012: Do Candidates Have a Foreign Policy?
This has to be the most inward-gazing presidential election in nearly half a century. True, voters are focused on domestic problems: the health care system, joblessness, the fiscal deficit, the state of the economy and what to do about it….
Three Global Hotspots that Can Damage the Recovery
Wories to the west of us, worries to the east. It is hardly the kind of August to encourage us to head for the beach and try to get through Proust for the 16th time. There are signs we are…
Can Draghi Turn the EU Ship Around in Time?
What a roller coaster ride Europe has embarked upon. A week ago Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank, made his now-famous “whatever it takes” remark in defense of the euro, and the markets bounded upward. Since then…
At Last, a Smart Life-Saving Plan for Europe
Whatever it takes” seems to have acquired a totemic meaning among the world’s central bankers. It has long been among the favored market-calming phrases uttered by Ben Bernanke, chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve. Now Mario Draghi, head of the…
Europe’s Juggling Act: Cuts, Tax Hikes, Bailouts
On the face of it, last week did not look like a very good one for Europe—not if you think it is time to push growth as well as fiscal discipline. Just days after Spain announced a $79 billion package…
China’s ‘Command Economy’ Rebound Depends on Jobs
Western observers are more nervous about China’s economic slump than the Chinese seem to be. We have had a raft of first-half numbers from Beijing over the past week or so as Prime Minister Wen Jiabao toured several eastern and…
Easy Money Won’t Cure EU’s “Contained Depression”
The earth’s core was exposed this week – it’s called the world’s central banks. The European Central Bank, the People’s Bank of China and the Bank of England all unveiled easier monetary policies of one kind or another. Denmark, which…
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