Paul Jorion's Blog

Author: Julien Alexandre

  • Euractiv.com, Paul Jorion : ‘Jean-Claude Juncker’s moral authority has been damaged’, 14th November 2014

    Euractiv.com, Paul Jorion: ‘Jean-Claude Juncker’s moral authority has been damaged’ Does the LuxLeaks scandal represent a risk for the Commission? Paul Jorion: Jean-Claude Juncker’s moral authority has been damaged. Of course, he hopes his investment plan will bring confidence, and it is a good idea. Especially if it can create employment and give purchasing power…

  • Medical Breakthrough: Low Dosage “Piketty” Prevents “FT” Fits (II/II), by H. Benisty (co-author with Timiota)

    Guest post. The French version can be found here. Special thanks to Serge Boucher for the translation We’ve shown in the first part of this post that a population of actors effecting “random walks” by betting their wealth daily, or more precisely a modest part of their fortune that lies above the poverty level, will…

  • Medical Breakthrough: Low Dosage “Piketty” Prevents “FT” Fits (I/II), by H. Benisty (co-author with Timiota)

    Guest post. The French version can be found here. Special thanks to Serge Boucher for the translation On the subject of wealth concentration and rising inequalities, Thomas Piketty tells us that there is indeed a growing rift, and that the fifties were only an exception. One can always pretend that the Gilded Age gave us…

  • THREE STRATEGIES FOR REDUCING THE DEBT, by François Leclerc

    Guest post. Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell Whenever monetary creation, or the famous concept of printing money, is alluded to, the idea of hyperinflation is never far away. Subsequently, reference is made to history to predict a return to these episodes that left such an indelible mark in people’s memories. The conclusion immediately…

  • THE PROVERBIAL OBJECTIVITY OF THE COLUMNIST, by François Leclerc

    Guest post. Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell The case is clear-cut judging by the current climate! The banks are behaving like louts, the regulators supervising them are looking the other way, and the politicians are covering their backs. Indeed, it is difficult to draw up a full list of the scandals which have…

  • THE RESULT OF UNRAVELLING A BALL OF WOOL… FROM THE WRONG END, by François Leclerc

    Guest post. Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell François Hollande has confirmed that the Government is going to propose for adoption an organic law (which a simple law cannot undo) in order to have the balanced budget rule adopted, on the advantageous pretext that it is provisional. There have been many occasions in recent…

  • A CRITICAL MASS OF CONTRADICTIONS, by François Leclerc

    Guest post. Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell Once more, the crisis has taken a turn for the worst in the days after a summit which was intended to resolve it. Barely ten days ago, two practical decisions came out of it, and neither has been implemented in practice; nothing has really been done…

  • THE SPANISH MINERS’ ‘BLACK MARCH’ REACHES MADRID, by François Leclerc

    Guest post. Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell (Copyright Uly Martin) In their hundreds, the ‘black march’ of the miners, who have come on foot from the North of Spain, has reached Puerta del Sol, where it was welcomed by thousands of Madrid residents. On strike since last May, they are fighting to prevent…

  • WHEN WE’RE NOT MOVING FORWARDS WE’RE GOING BACKWARDS…, by François Leclerc

    Guest post. Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell The European Finance Ministers managed during the course of the night to finalize a minimal agreement, which needs, as usual, to be examined in detail due to its grey areas. They put together a set of nominations to the ECB and the ESM based upon the…

  • NUCLEAR RESTARTED IN JAPAN, by Asami Sato

    Guest post. Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell On Saturday the 16th June, the Prefecture of Fukui (in the West of Japan) officially gave its consent to the Prime Minister for two reactors at the Ohi nuclear power station to be restarted. The dates are set for the 8th July for reactor N°3 and…

  • DO YOU KNOW WHAT SCHMILBLICK IS ?, by François Leclerc

    Guest post. Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell We recently touched on the quartet engaged in drawing up a composite motion, in order to faire avancer le schmilblick (= to move the schmilblick forward, or in other words to make a limited contribution to solve a complex problem). Before describing their efforts it may…

  • AFTER THE WORDS, THE MAGIC FORMULA…, by François Leclerc

    Guest post. Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell What can you say when you are in total disagreement? You can always assert, with one voice, the need for a union! This is this perspective that the quartet composed of José Manuel Barroso, Mario Draghi, Jean-Claude Juncker and Herman Van Rompuy (in alphabetical order) continues…

  • RED HERRINGS, by François Leclerc

    Guest post. Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell The magic word growth only needs to be pronounced in order for everything to become just like it was before. At least that is what the four European leaders gathered yesterday at Rome seemed to believe when they announced the figure of 120 to 130 billion…

  • NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT ! , by François Leclerc

    Guest post. Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell The G20 in Los Cabos seemed like a preparatory meeting for the Summit of the Heads of State and European Governments! This seems to highlight the fact that they no longer know what to do, and are running round like headless chicken. The same ideas that…

  • BACK FROM LOS CABOS, by François Leclerc

    Guest post. Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell Given that the G20 has confined itself to mere generalities and that the European Summit on the 28th and 29th June is dangerously close, what can be expected of the meeting in Rome on the 22nd June between Angela Merkel, Mario Monti, Mariano Rajoy and François…

  • ON THE EVE OF THE GREEK ELECTIONS, by Panagiotis Grigoriou

    Guest post. Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell On Thursday 14th June a woman from Crete, aged 32 years old, stole three packs of milk and an ice-cream from a supermarket in Héraklion, causing a loss to the shop of 20.77 Euros. For several days, her four children had been given nothing but plain…

  • A BIG BANG, OR NOTHING , by François Leclerc

    Guest post. Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell With the G20 meeting being held in Mexico at the start of the week, our perspective will find itself altered, falsely accustomed as we are to only seeing the debt crisis from a European angle. On the 18th and 19th June, the greats of this world…

  • STEPS TOO STEEP TO CLIMB, by François Leclerc

    Guest post. Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell François Hollande is on the offensive and Angela Merkel firmly on the defensive, with both setting their sights on a compromise in the summit at the end of June (a compromise which remains inconceivable for the moment). How is it viewed by Paris, with Berlin continuing…

  • NOW THE CHAINS ARE GIVING WAY, by François Leclerc

    Guest post. Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell The chorus of voices is becoming increasingly strident and events are moving very fast: the now inevitable Spanish request to benefit from a rescue package; plus the impending recognition of the failure of the second Greek plan, followed by the negotiation of a third one with…

  • THE CHAINS ARE GOING TO GIVE WAY, by François Leclerc

    Guest post. Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell Financiers loathe risk, though they don’t mind so much if it is others bearing it. When they refer to it they juxtapose terms of risk aversion or, its opposite, appetite for risk, but this is only another of their manners of speaking (of which they have…