“The euro area seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 12.1% in October 2013, down from 12.2% in September”. These are the first two lines of a brief announcement issued yesterday by Eurostat, the EU statistical service. One decimal of a percentage unit in a statistical survey conducted by a sample of thousands to draw conclusions for a […]Is Eurozone heading towards a long stagnation?
November 30, 2013 by Leave a Comment
“The euro area seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 12.1% in October 2013, down from 12.2% in September”. These are the first two lines of a brief announcement issued yesterday by Eurostat, the EU statistical service. One decimal of a percentage unit in a statistical survey conducted by a sample of thousands to draw conclusions for a […]ECB’s Draghi favours a cheaper euro to serve all Eurozone countries
November 29, 2013 by 2 Comments
György Matolcsy, the controversial Hungarian politician and economist, currently serving as governor of his country’s central bank, handpicked for the job by the equally controversial Prime Minister Viktor Orban, reported that the President of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi has set the ceiling for the euro/dollar parity at 1/1.30. This is something Draghi has […]Eurozone banks to separate risky activities: Can they stay afloat?
November 21, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Yesterday EU Commissioner Michel Barnier, in an interview to the German financial newspaper ‘Handelsblatt’, said that the European Commission has decided to go ahead and propose legislation to safeguard Eurozone’s banking system, along the lines of the recommendations of the high-level expert group, chaired by Erkki Liikanen, governor of the Bank of Finland. The main […]OECD tells Eurozone to prepare its banks for a tsunami coming from developing countries
November 21, 2013 by Leave a Comment
OECD is not like the IMF. The Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development, unlike the International Monetary Fund doesn’t chew its words, when it comes to the economic prospects of the global economy. The reason is that its mandate obliges the Organisation to effectively protect its 34 member states from the dangers lurking ahead, by […]The Commission tells Berlin it is legally obliged to help Eurozone out of stagnation
November 16, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The time has come and the European Commission gave to Germany in writing, what has been so far aired orally. In this respect, Brussels tells Berlin that it is legally obliged to abandon its egotistic austere and protective policies and help itself and the entire Eurozone enter again in a sustainable growth path. Let’s take […]A sterilised EMU may lead to a break up of Eurozone
November 12, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Ahead of the ‘The European Employment Forum’ which takes place in Brussels today and tomorrow and according to its organisers is ‘the annual networking forum for everyone involved in employment and enterprise within the EU and beyond’, there was an increased activity over the burning issue of jobs and unemployment in Europe. To this effect, […]It’s a week dedicated to all EU budgets; seven days that can make or break the Union
November 11, 2013 by Leave a Comment
All EU member states budgets including the EU’s proper one will be under scrutiny this week in Brussels. Let’s start from the Union’s own budget for 2014. Today Monday, a Conciliation Committee, made up by the 28 representatives of the member states and 28 European legislators, has to agree on EU’s budget for 2014. Earlier […]Commission Vice-President Rehn exaggerates Eurozone’s growth prospects
November 6, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Yesterday the European Commission published its autumn 2013 economic forecast for the EU and the Eurozone. Apart from downgrading the growth prospects in relation to last spring projections, Ollie Rehn, Commission vice-President, while presenting the package, used slightly different estimates than the ones contained in the full report prepared by the Directorate-General for Economic and […]ECB doesn’t dare touch Eurozone’s big banks
November 5, 2013 by Leave a Comment
While the whole world knows that the Eurozone banks are very short on truly own capital and their overall leverage ratio is less than 3%, the European Central Bank avoids analysing in detail the exact magnitude of this crucial indicator. In its Banking Structure Report, which was published yesterday covering the period 2008-2012 and the […]Eurozone to enter the winter…
November 4, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Euro area annual inflation and its main components (%), October 2012 and May – October 2013. On many occasions during the past few months the European Sting has concluded that the ongoing deceleration of inflation in Eurozone is a bad omen. Last time it was on Friday 1 November when Eurostat announced its flash estimate for […]Financiers can turn the world into a dirty and dangerous place
November 2, 2013 by 1 Comment
Despite the fact that the civil society is fed up with the absolute indifference of the financial sector about what happens in the real economy, the western political elites continue to nurture the insatiable appetite of the banking system for more book profits. In view of that, the European Economic and Social Committee issued yesterday […]Eurobarometer: Not a single answer about what the Banking Union will cost to citizens
November 1, 2013 by Leave a Comment
At a critical time for the future of Eurozone, with the Banking Union still pending – the most important project since the euro – and the Eurobarometer survey failed to ask the citizens of the 18 euro area member states about that. Of course this is not a grave omission of the people who drafted […]Inflation down to 0.7%, unemployment up at 12.2%: Bad omens for Eurozone
November 1, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Eurostat, the EU statistical service, estimates that euro area inflation in October fell to 0.7% from 1.1% in September. It was 1.6% in July and then fell to 1.3% in August. This is an alarmingly fast deceleration of consumer price dynamism, threatening Eurozone with real disinflation, way below the 2% benchmark set by the European […]ECB’s first flight in Eurozone’s banking universe will be just a reconnaissance
October 30, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The European Central Bank, in view of its new role as single supervisory authority of Eurozone’s banking system, a task that will officially commence in November 2014, is now testing the grounds of this real banking constellation, which comprises a round number of 6000 banks. The ECB will undertake with its own proper mechanism the […]Eurozone economy desperately needs internally driven growth
October 29, 2013 by Leave a Comment
With economic growth in Eurozone proving to be weak, uncertain and widely varying between member states, government spending has become the only possible source of a much hoped for resumption of economic activities. On the other hand, stock exchanges have gained a lot since the beginning of the year, in a way that is not […]What do Europeans believe about the crisis and the possible way out?
October 21, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Despite the falling level of citizens’ confidence in EU institutions during the past few years from 55% in 2007 to 44% in 2012, a recent Eurobarometer survey found that respondents insist that the EU is best placed to regulate banks, with 54% of the respondents supporting this view. This is a direct proof that Europeans […]ECB should offer more and cheaper liquidity if Eurozone is to avoid recession
October 21, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The fact that monetary policy is the only common policy applied invariably in the 18 still widely diverging Eurozone economies, means that the European Central Bank is the unique euro area institution, which thinks and acts on a really European level. In this respect, the latest statements by its President, Mario Draghi, are quite pertinent. […]Eurozone and Britain heading in different directions
October 17, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Eurostat, the EU statistical service, confirmed yesterday that its ‘flash estimate’ of September inflation at 1.1% is correct. In a brief Press release, the Service announced that, “Euro area annual inflation was 1.1% in September 2013, down from 1.3% in August. A year earlier the rate was 2.6%. Monthly inflation was 0.5% in September 2013”. […]The Ecofin deceives the SMEs with the EIB €10bn capital increase
October 16, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Shakespeare’s comedy play title “Much Ado About Nothing” best describes the 28 Ecofin ministers for Finance discussion on the EU Commission and European Investment Bank initiative, wishfully aimed at facilitating the access to finance for SMEs. The programme extends over the next few years and foresees an increase of EIB’s capital by €10 billion. This […]IMF asks Europe to decide on bank resolutions and the Greek Gordian knot
October 12, 2013 by Leave a Comment
In view of the fast deteriorating relations between the European Union and the International Monetary Fund over the needed measures to confront the Greek Gordian knot and Eurozone’s banking sector problems, a culmination is expected in a few days. The exchanges between the two sides, recorded this week are indicative of the worsening climate over […]Why Europe is more competitive than the US
October 11, 2013 by 1 Comment
The commonly recited rough theory, that Eurozone economy is less competitive than the US, is not confirmed by core statistics. The European Sting has repeatedly stressed that Eurozone is by far a net exporter of sophisticated products and services, while the US suffers of a chronic and probably structural, foreign trade deficit. In this […]Lagarde: Keep feeding the banks cut down wages and food subsidies
October 7, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Lagarde to the world: Keep feeding the banks with zero interest rate cost money, further trim down workers’ rights in the developed world and reduce subsidies on foodstuffs and utilities in developing countries. This was in short what the managing director of IMF had to say, ahead of the 2013 World Bank-IMF Annual Meetings, when […]More capital and liquidity for the banks
October 4, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Benoît Cœuré, a Member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank, after taking care of banks’ recapitalisation needs last week using taxpayers money, embarked yesterday in a new adventure to convince us all, that central banks with their unlimited liquidity supply to banks, do not help them exploit hard-working labourers and small and […]Eurozone: Disinflation engulfs the industrial goods sector
October 1, 2013 by Leave a Comment
In three months, from July to September this year, inflation in Eurozone fell from 1.6% to 1.1%, with a brief stopover of 1.3% in August. The European Sting has been sounding the alarm for months now, over this fast deceleration of consumer goods prices. This trend is present all along this year, starting from […]Eurozone: Economic Sentiment Indicator recovering losses
September 28, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI), despite a mild rise in September by 1.6 points in the euro area is still below its long-term average (100), and oscillates around the levels of the third quarter of 2010. However if it continuous on its present upwards course, it may soon recover losses of three years. In […]What is the IMF telling Eurozone about fiscal and banking unification?
September 26, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The International Monetary Fund questions the efforts of the European Union to establish effective fiscal discipline policy instruments and a smoothly functioning banking union in the euro area. In a survey entitled “More Fiscal Integration to Boost Euro Area Resilience”, the Fund analysts observe that “Crisis exposed important gaps in architecture of the euro area”. […]Brussels waits for the Germans to arrive
September 23, 2013 by Leave a Comment
European Council president Herman Van Rompuy in a four short lines announcement congratulating Angela Merkel on her victory in yesterday’s elections repeats her name twice, plus once in the title. This is rather too much in a fifty words official statement. The announcement written in the usual official language avoids celebrating the CDU-CSU victory but […]Job vacancy data reveal better prospects for Britain, stagnation in Eurozone
September 18, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Job vacancy statistics is not a widely used analytical tool despite the fact that is follows more accurately a number of vital social and economic variables, like the robustness of growth or the steepness of fall of economic activity. They are also indicative of the structural effectiveness of labour market workings, of the efficacy of […]Is Eurozone heading for disinflation?
September 17, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Under different circumstances a drop of inflation to 1.3% could have been a cause for celebration. It’s not like that now. The fall of the inflation rate to that level in August is a rather negative development. However averages on many instances hide the truth. Eurozone countries in deep recession like Greece and Cyprus or […]Can Eurozone’s uncertain growth answer the challenges that lie ahead?
September 16, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Bit by bit the much advertised resumption of economic activity in Eurozone fades away. The fall of unemployment rate by just one decimal point to 12.1% in June and the increase of GDP during the second quarter of this year by 0.3% fuelled overoptimistic estimates that Eurozone has definitively left behind the lowest part of […]OECD: Mind the financial gap that lies ahead
September 10, 2013 by 1 Comment
A rather disappointing picture of the world economy drew OECD Deputy Chief Economist Jorgen Elmeskov last week, when he said that “The gradual pick-up in momentum in the advanced economies is encouraging but a sustainable recovery is not yet firmly established. Major risks remain”. If it was not for China’s predicted growth during the last […]Draghi reserved about Eurozone’s growth prospects
September 6, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Yesterday, Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank, during the Press conference following the meeting of the Governing Council, in answering a journalist’s question appeared quite reserved about Eurozone’s growth prospects. Despite the fact that ECB’s staff projections for 2013 have been revised upwards, estimates for 2014 growth potential are now downgraded. Not to […]Eurozone very close to a sustainable growth path
August 31, 2013 by Leave a Comment
After yesterday’s barrage of new positive statistics, the European economy seems to secure this summer position in the upwards pointing part of the curve. Business climate, economic sentiment and inflation all seem to turn out much better than expected readings for August. Even the abrupt fall of inflation in the euro area from 1.6% in […]
