Dollars don’t annihilate disease: why money cannot heal the world

This article was exclusively written for The European Sting by Ms. Jasmine Rutere, a second-year graduate medical student at the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom. She is affiliated with the International Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFMSA), cordial partner of The Sting. The opinions expressed in this piece belong strictly to the writer and do […]

A supercomputer is helping to reduce traffic jams, saving time and money. Here’s how

This article is brought to you thanks to the collaboration of The European Sting with the World Economic Forum. Author: Sean Fleming, Senior Writer, Formative Content A supercomputer has pinpointed and eased congestion in the US city of Chattanooga. This has resulted in a 16% decrease in fuel use. The technology could reduce fuel consumption across the US […]

Can cybersecurity offer value for money?

This article is brought to you thanks to the collaboration of The European Sting with the World Economic Forum. Author: Paul Stokes, Co-founder, Managed Security Forum, Prevalent AI Cybersecurity looks like a waste of money. Companies set new global records with $37 billion invested in security in 2018, with spending expected to surpass $42 billion by 2020. Gartner research found […]

MEPs strengthen EU financial watchdogs

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. MEPs approved rules strengthening the EU financial supervision needed for safer financial markets, fighting money laundering, and protecting consumers. The new law, adopted on Tuesday by 521 in favour, 70 against, with 65 abstentions, already agreed with EU ministers and spearheaded through Parliament by […]

This new form of currency could transform the way we see money

This article is brought to you thanks to the collaboration of The European Sting with the World Economic Forum. Author: Ashley Lannquist, Project Lead, Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology, World Economic Forum Central banks around the world are experimenting with so-called Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). But what is it and why does it matter? CBDC is a digitized […]

Banks can fight financial crime. But we can’t do it alone

This article is brought to you thanks to the strategic cooperation of The European Sting with the World Economic Forum. Author: Erik Barnett Head of Financial Crime Threat Mitigation, Europe, HSBC A young woman walks into a bank branch in London. She is soon noticed by a teller, who sees that she is closely followed by a man, who […]

Draghi to lay his print on long term ECB policies prior to exiting next year

Mario Draghi, the President of the European Central Bank, was criticized by major global financial media for insisting to end the easy money policy this December. The argument is that, after ECB’s Governing Council decided at the end of the prosperous 2017 to end its extraordinary monetary policy, the world has become a riskier place. […]

IMF: All you want to know about Argentina

This article is brought to you in association with the International Monetary Fund Written by IMF staff Frequently asked questions about Argentina, June 7, 2018 How much money will be disbursed to Argentina to support the new economic plan? Argentina and IMF staff have reached an agreement on an economic plan that can be supported by […]

Our Digital Future

This article is brought to you in association with IMFBlog Written by Camilla Lund Andersen “Money makes the world go around,” Liza Minnelli famously sang in the movie Cabaret. Money has for centuries been central to human relationships. Loss of faith in its value can result in economic and political instability, even war. In the […]

Germany readies to pay for the Brexit gap in EU finance

As expected, last Friday’s informal European Council of the 27 EU leaders didn’t produce any tangible result regarding its main agenda item; the future of Europe. The EU leaders just quarreled on who is to cover the hole in the budget, after Britain’s contribution ends with Brexit. In relation to this perennial question of money […]

Eurozone’s central bank leadership prepares for shoddier prospects

It has become commonplace to state that the European economy still doesn’t fare well after six years of recession or practical stagnation. For good reasons however in the past few days the horizon looked particularly darkened. Negative statistical evidence and meandering statements by key people are indicative of that. Inflation or rather disinflation statistics, persistently […]

No recovery for EU economy in sight and a Brexit can aggravate things for everyone

The Eurozone economy doesn’t seem able to gain a sustainable growth path, despite the hundreds of billions that, lately, European Central Bank has injected into the financial system. Analysts say, though, that ECB’s intervention came too late. There is more bad news for the real economy coming from the prices front. Last week, Eurostat, the […]

ECB’s new money bonanza handed out to help the real economy or create new bubbles?

Last Thursday the European Central Bank announced it will pump extra piles of freshly printed money into Eurozone’s banking system. The President of ECB, Mario Draghi said that he will be delivering €80 billion a month for the public bonds owned by banks for as long as it is needed. On top of this, the […]

Draghi drafts a plan to donate more money to bankers, the era of ‘money for nothin’ is flourishing

The European Central Bank announced last week that under its extraordinary Asset Purchase Program (APP), it has injected  €712.3 billion into the euro area financial system until January this year. Out of that, €544.2bn are Eurozone government and public entities bonds, bought under the Public Sector Purchase Program (PSPP). This last plan was decided in […]

ECB money bonanza not enough to revive euro area, Germany longs to rule with stagnation

During the days ahead of last Thursday’s 3 December meeting of the European Central Bank’s Governing Council, financial markets and market oriented media had been pressing for a stronger monetary accommodation (easing), than what President Mario Draghi finally announced in the afternoon of that day. As a result, the euro appreciated markedly with the dollar […]

Draghi rehabs ECB into a tool to support growth and employment; a departure from Teutonic orthodoxy

On Thursday 22 October Mario Draghi, the President of the European Central Bank delighted the world capital markets with his comment about the “factors that are currently slowing the return of inflation to levels below, but close to, 2% in the medium term” He added that “In this context, the degree of monetary policy accommodation […]

Why the ECB prepares to flood the markets with more and free of charge euro; everybody needs that now

Mario Draghi’s statement of last Thursday from Malta that the European Central Bank’s “monetary policy accommodation will need to be re-examined at our December monetary policy meeting”, offered a strong support to all major capital markets, with stocks gaining a lot of ground and the euro receding slightly. Understandably, a generous increase of ECB’s monthly […]

How Germany strives to mold ECB’s monetary policy to her interests

Sabine Lautenschläger, a Member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank and at the same time Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board of the Single Supervisory Mechanism is in itself a living proof that euro area is a Germanic monetary zone, in reality an extension of the zone of the German mark. According to […]

Draghi: printing a full extra trillion non negotiable to help all borrow cheaply

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi speaking at the economic and monetary affairs Committee of the European Parliament last Monday, made at least two direct references to additional monetary measures, to confront the anaemic economic conditions in Eurozone, “if warranted to achieve price stability over the medium term”. He referred to this prospect once while […]

ECB: Reaching the limits of its mandate to revive the Eurozone economy

Everybody agreed that what the European Central Bank decided last week (to lower its basic interest rate to 0.05% and purchase asset backed securities and covered bonds) came as a surprise. As a result, stock and bond markets throughout Europe celebrated this additional almost zero cost liquidity, which Mario Draghi, ECB’s President, is ready to […]

ECB’s unconventional monetary measures give first tangible results

A strong statement was delivered last week by Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank. He ascertained that the monetary measures already taken unanimously by the central bank’s Governing Council, “will enhance our accommodative monetary policy stance”. Those measures have led to an easing of the euro/dollar parity favouring a cheaper single money, a […]

ECB again to subsidize euro area banks with more than one trillion euro

The Governing Council of European Central Bank decided last week to hand out to Eurozone banks additional liquidity of up to €1 trillion at almost zero cost, under its new targeted longer-term refinancing operations (TLTROs). At the same time it also decided to “intensify preparatory work related to outright purchases in the Asset Backed Securities […]

Draghi’s ‘quasi’ announcement of a new era of more and cheaper money

Mario Draghi, the ECB President, was more than explicit last week, that the European Central Bank will live up to its duty and do in June whatever it takes to help the Eurozone economy grow again and push inflation a bit upwards, back in line with the institutional target, which is below but close to […]