Are China’s Hidden Liabilities Behind Moody’s Ratings Downgrade?
Concerns about China’s “massive debt burden” and slowing economy are causing new concerns after Moody’s Investor Services sounded a full-blown alarm this week downgrading China’s credit rating on sovereign debt from Aa3 to A1. Why would Moody’s cut China’s rating…
Why the E.U. Will Cut a Deal With Greece This Week
You have to be a horseplayer now that the Greek crisis is about to pop: Like any savvy handicapper you hold your main bet in your hand but keep a saver in your pocket. When a European Union summit gathers…
Markets Fear the End Game for Greece as IMF Gives Ukraine a Free Pass
Until a few days ago, the Greek and Ukrainian debt crises looked like twins: Two sovereigns with immense debts, creditors at their throats, looming deadlines, and deep fiscal and economic problems. One of the biggest guns among the creditors is…
Why Ukraine Will Get Its Debt Restructured
Push is quickly coming to shove over Ukraine’s $35 billion in government debt, $23 billion of which must be either paid or restructured in June. This is a must-watch for its wider implications. The question is stark: Who is going…
Greeks See Light at the End of the Austerity Tunnel
A decisive vote for Syriza and its left-leaning leader, Tsipras A chunk of Draghi’s $1.23 trillion stimulus will go to Greece Time to book a trip—the euro is now $1.11 In a single week, we witnessed these events: Mario Draghi…
Why the Global Economy Could Go Off the Rails in 2014
You do not have to go far to hear that financial hard times are over in 2014. But no one looking around the global economy could possibly miss the work still undone. Some see potholes deep enough to send the…
Washington’s Mess Damages U.S. Global Standing
Nobody will ever put up a neon sign or a billboard announcing that the U.S. has taken another step toward decline in its global position. Neither is American decline inevitable, as the so-called “declinists” habitually assert. It is not. Decline…
China’s Bank Crisis Could Pummel the U.S. Economy
Do we still have to worry about the US economy even though the Fed seems to think we’re out of the woods? Think “China,” where growth is slowing, corporate debt is out of control, and the banks are looking wobbly….
Post-Austerity Europe Gropes for a Game Plan
In Spain, King Juan Carlos proposes to give up his 136–foot yacht (although there is bickering over who should get it). In France, President Francois Hollande just raised $390,000 by selling 1,200 bottles of wine from the Élysée Palace cellars…
As Europe Turns Left, a Call to “Show Me the Money”
We will die of fiscal consolidation alone,” Enrico Letta, Italy’s new prime minister, said in his maiden speech to parliament a few days ago. “Growth policies cannot wait any longer.” The anti-austerity argument in Europe has quickly achieved respectability. Letta…
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