Tim Worstall This is absurd! So the bankers whose excesses helped land Europe in this mess then get to sit round the big EU table, like any other government, and decide who should pay for it. And the answer, unsurprisingly, is: not them. The bigger question is: why finance has been granted such power? This  [ Read More ]

John Redwood I have found there are are least 87 examples of countries leaving currency unions and establishing their own money since 1945. In most cases establishing an independent currency allowed the country concerned to set more sensible interest rates and exchange rate to help them grow. In every case it gave them more independence,  [ Read More ]

John Redwood Don’t expect the euphoria over a new Italian government to last long. There is no need to share it. The markets enjoyed a relief rally on news of a new government forming in Italy. The European establishment is behind Mr Monti, so we should expect the ECB and the spin machine to try  [ Read More ]

Tim Worstall France and Germany have reached agreement to boost the eurozone’s rescue fund to €2tn (£1.75tn) as part of a “comprehensive plan” to resolve the sovereign debt crisis, which this weekend’s summit should endorse, EU diplomats said. The growing confidence that a deal can be struck at this Sunday’s crisis summit came amid signs  [ Read More ]

Ruth Lea Last weekend’s IMF and G20 meetings were of the utmost significance. Amidst crashing equity markets and IMF downgrades, the Eurozone’s leaders came under intense criticism and pressure from other participants to “resolve” the Eurozone crisis, which has been proving so destabilising to the financial markets. US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, for example, called  [ Read More ]

John Redwood The future of the Euro and the greater EU superstate project now rests largely on German politics. The German political establishment has been keen on integration by stealth for many years. It ignored German public opinion against losing the DM, and took the country into the Euro. Now it is trying to get  [ Read More ]

John Redwood Western governments mainly know just one refrain. They say they need to spend more, so they need increased revenues. When the economy is doing well they want to spend more, so the public sector participates in the success and modernises to keep up with the private sector. When times are bad for the  [ Read More ]

Ruth Lea Over the last fortnight there have been three major developments in the increasingly beleaguered and dysfunctional Eurozone. One can only hope that Europe’s politicians who created this monster now regard their work with a little humility if not pained embarrassment. But I wouldn’t bet on it, such is the chasm between themselves and  [ Read More ]