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Mr President, with all due respect, please don’t do what you rightly accuse your opponent of doing: taking a dangerously inflated view of your current capabilities. Please withdraw from the race: we, the citizens of nations abroad, need the United States to remain a democracy.
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LOTS OF FROTH, by François Leclerc
Guest post. Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell A brand new development in the history of the ECB has occurred: leaks yesterday revealed the broad outlines of its new sovereign debt securities’ purchase programme. One cannot help thinking that it was necessary to prepare the ground in advance, with the ECB decisions falling well…
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BEHIND THE SCENES, by François Leclerc
Guest post. Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell There are some sinister goings-on behind the scenes of the European financial system, which are hardly being proclaimed from the rooftops! Even Mario Draghi himself is preoccupied by it, drawing attention to vague manifestations of “fragmentation” which are developing at the heart of the Eurozone. What…
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THE ONLY REMAINING MEANS OF SAVING THE EURO
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FIRST IT WAS THE AGENCIES, NOW ITS THE FORECASTERS’ FAULT, by François Leclerc
Guest post. Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell “I can’t see any time soon when…the pressure will be off” replied David Cameron, the British Prime-Minister, in an interview with The Daily Telegraph. He continued, “this is a period for all countries, not just in Europe but I think you will see it in America…
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GUILTY PARTIES WANTED !, by François Leclerc
Guest post. Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell In accordance with the predictable script, the bond market is under pressure again. The cost of servicing Spanish and Italian debt has continued to increase as their financing plans move forward in little measured steps. The effect of all this is to place an additional burden…
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THE WINDOWS MUST REMAIN CLOSED, by François Leclerc
Guest post. Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell By rejecting the quartet’s plan, (which has, moreover, already been watered-down) before the summit has even been held, the German deputy foreign affairs minister, Michael Link has placed himself in the avant-garde of all those opposing any attempt at a compromise. The “iron chancellor’s” hard-line approach…
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A BIG BANG, OR NOTHING , by François Leclerc
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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…
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THE TOWERING MOUNTAIN, SWAYING FROM SIDE TO SIDE, by François Leclerc
Guest post. Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell. “There is a first assessment, then a second, a third, a fourth…..It’s the worst possible way of doing things because everybody ends up doing the right thing but at the highest possible cost and price”. Who was it speaking so harshly yesterday of banking losses and…