Tag: Mariano Rajoy

  • THE DRAWBRIDGE MENTALITY, by François Leclerc

    Guest post. Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell A united front of German banks has opened up, refusing any kind of interference from a supervisory body – in this case the ECB – due to their little idiosyncrasies and their little hidden frailties, but also the risk of being made to contribute via a…

  • 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…

  • A HUNDRED BILLION EUROS FOR SPANISH BANKS, by François Leclerc

    Guest post. Translated from the French by Tim Gupwell. It was no longer possible to carry on. Two and a half hours of videoconference between the Eurozone’s finance ministers (joined by Christine Lagarde on behalf of the IMF) were needed to finalize the scheme, allowing the German and Spanish governments to save face. Germany made…