European Commissioner László Andor responsible for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion delivered an inspired speech entitled “Countering the crisis: fixing Europe’s monetary union and upgrading EU employment policy“, during an event at the London School of Economics. His idea about the European project is included in the very title of this speech that is connecting […]A comprehensive strategy for Eurozone’s long term growth gains momentum
May 10, 2013 by Leave a Comment
European Commissioner László Andor responsible for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion delivered an inspired speech entitled “Countering the crisis: fixing Europe’s monetary union and upgrading EU employment policy“, during an event at the London School of Economics. His idea about the European project is included in the very title of this speech that is connecting […]Eurozone plans return to growth
May 10, 2013 by Leave a Comment
After Dr Wolfgang Schaeuble, the German minister of Finance stated that it was a fair decision by Brussels to give France two more years to straighten up its fiscal accounts, the climate in Eurozone has changed from winter to spring. Up to now Paris was at odds with Berlin over the severe austerity policies imposed […]Population in crisis hit EU countries will suffer for decades
May 9, 2013 by 1 Comment
The positive relation between economic growth and the size of population is one of the best established principles in economic theory. There is no doubt then that today’s birth rate and future GDP are positively related, despite the fact that the dynamism of the correlation between those two crucial variables, seems to vary according to […]Draghi: Germany has to spend if Eurozone is to exit recession
May 7, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Mario Draghi, in a historic speech delivered yesterday in his home country, bravely surpassed the limits of his office as President of the European Central Bank, and upon receiving an honorary degree in political science, from the Luiss “Guido Carli” University in Rome, he warned the European leaders that in order to safeguard the European […]EU Commission: Growth first then fiscal consolidation
May 4, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The European Commission, the EU’s executive body, released yesterday its spring forecast for the economic prospects of the Union in 2013-2014. There are three issues to watch in the released text and also in what Olli Rehn, Commission Vice-President for Economic and Monetary Affairs had to say in a press conference in Brussels. Firstly […]Inflation and interest rates indicate urgent need for action
May 2, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Inflation indices are a measure not only of the rate of change of consumer prices. In organised economies like Eurozone inflation is a good indirect measurement of economic activities. A bit more inflation above the benchmark of 2% is a good indication that the economy is growing, the opposite for measurements below that level. Inflation […]Italy solves the enigma of growth with fiscal consolidation: The Banking Union
May 2, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The new Italian Prime Minister, Enrico Letta, after his government got full approval from the country’s legislators in two days and two trips to Berlin and Paris, managed to confirm the reputation of Rome as the catalyst of historic European developments. The Treaty of the European Union was signed in the eternal city. In less […]Recession: the best argument for growth
May 1, 2013 by 1 Comment
A cascade of negative Eurozone statistics yesterday wouldn’t let the euro area social partners celebrate at ease today the 1st May labour day, because it is now proven beyond reasonable doubt that the seventeen member state euro money area is heading fast, towards a new and long recession, unless the applied austerity policy mix is […]Eurozone: The cycle of deficits, debts and austerity revisited
April 29, 2013 by Leave a Comment
A European Union Member State’s government budget deficit may not exceed -3 % of its gross domestic product (GDP), while its debt may not exceed 60 % of GDP. If a Member State does not respect these limits, the so-called excessive deficit procedure is triggered. The procedures against member states for excessive deficit or debt […]IMF: How can Eurozone avoid stagnation
April 26, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The International Monetary Fund in its World Economic Outlook (WEO) report published this week states that while drafting it, the Fund’s economists were forced to create a new category of economic recovery or rather stagnation, to include in it only the euro area. In the preface, the Fund economists state plainly that “what was until […]Why Eurozone’s problems may end in a few months
April 26, 2013 by Leave a Comment
After Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, questioned loudly last Monday the one-sided character of the severe austerity policies currently applied in a number of Eurozone countries, yesterday it was the turn of Commission’s vice President Ollie Rehn, directly responsible for this tough strategy, to argue openly and clearly in favour of a relaxation. […]Who is to profit from the quasi announced ECB rate cut?
April 25, 2013 by Leave a Comment
It is probably the first time in the annals of the European Central Bank that its president and vice president went so close as to almost announce the next interest rate reduction. Yesterday ECB’s Vice-President Vitor Constancio, presented the central bank’s Annual Report for 2012 to the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the […]Berlin’s governing elite leads Eurozone to recession to win the September election in Germany
April 24, 2013 by Leave a Comment
As if everything was rosy and growing in the Eurozone, the German federal ministry of Finance issued yesterday a press release demanding that everybody in the euro area continues on the same line of economic policies, targeting financial and fiscal consolidation by using severe austerity measures mainly in deficit countries. For Germany proper Eurostat found […]Everybody for himself in G20 and IMF
April 22, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The G20 meeting of this last weekend evolved in the shadow of the confrontation between the US Secretary of Treasury, Jack Lew and the German Federal minister of Finance Wolfgang Schäuble. Obviously the subject of this antithesis was the reluctance of Eurozone to apply the American recipe for economic growth. That is the issue of […]More unemployment and lower wages to make European workers competitive?
April 19, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The statement that unemployment constantly increases in the European Union has become a banal observation during the past three crisis years. When however it comes to long-term unemployment, comprising workers without a job for more than one year, the end result can be that the labour force of this country or region is reduced by […]EU is officially in recession
April 6, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Eurostat, the statistical service of the European Union, confirmed yesterday with its regular third estimate, that during the last quarter of 2012 the Gross Domestic Product fell by 0.6% in the Euro area and by 0.5% in the EU27, in comparison with the previous three-month period of the same year. Eurostat’s third regular GDP estimation […]Eurozone recession subsides
March 30, 2013 by Leave a Comment
According to the €-coin index the euro area growth remained negative for the 18th month in a row in March 2013, after the index turned negative in October 2011. The index measures the level of economic activity in the entire Eurozone and predicts GDP developments some months before the official data appear. The only positive […]EU Summit consumed by the banks
March 15, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The Spring European Council made yesterday a timid step towards the introduction of more social content in the austerity programmes currently applied in the EU and a giant leap forward in constituting the EU banking union. The relevance and the practical implications of the texts on each one of those two issues included in the final […]The EU Spring Summit set to challenge austerity
March 15, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The “Spring Summit” of the 27 EU leaders on 14-15 March unfolding currently amidst the Brussels winter scenery, will be forced to challenge the presently followed economic policy orientation of austerity, under the pressure of major developments. Obviously the Italian elections results and the ensuing political stalemate, set a new background for every political economy exercise […]European tourism remains a strong growth factor
March 7, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The mighty European services industry offers more jobs and employment despite the ongoing financial crisis. Tourism, being the largest service sub-sector offers a strong support base to the recession stricken Eurozone economy. Yesterday the European Commission published a Eurobarometer survey on the tourism industry, with very encouraging findings. According to this survey, “Tourism’s robust and […]Rehn ready to sacrifice part of the real economy
February 25, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Last week, Ollie Rehn, the EU Commissioner responsible for the Economy, while presenting his “winter forecast 2012-14” for the Union, appeared not to bother with the prospects of the rising unemployment and the collapsing prospects for the young. Otherwise it cannot be explained why he said that, “The ongoing rebalancing of the European economy is […]
