-
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 provisional re-appointment of Jean-Claude Juncker at its head, in the absence of any other solution. Then they reached a “tentative agreement” (another way of saying a broad outline) with regard to the particular case of Spain which needs to be wrapped up for adoption on … Read the rest
-
STICKING TO ONE’S PRINCIPLES…, by François Leclerc
Guest post. Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell
What was the plan being drawn up last week in Rome which Merkel refused to sign up to? The other three participants, Mario Monti, Mariano Rajoy and François Hollande advocated using the EFSF, and in the near future the ESM, directly, to bail-out the banks without adding further to the public deficit (thus breaking the link between these two types of debt), as well as using them to purchase sovereign bonds in order to ease market tensions. Spain and Italy would be the principal beneficiaries of these measures.
But there is … Read the rest
-
THE RAMIFICATIONS OF THE SPANISH BANKING BAIL-OUT, by François Leclerc
Guest post. Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell.
Some important details are still lacking with regard to the Spanish banking bailout plan: its final amount, which is going to depend on the results of the audit commissioned by the government; its rate, which we will be coming back to; and the stabilizing measures for the banks which will be associated with it. These will include massive lay-offs in the banking sector and will further worsen the unemployment situation.
One other aspect has, however, not been highlighted enough. The funds will have to be paid out – at least initially … Read the rest