Latest Updates

European Parliament wants ECB to change inflation target

18.07.08

Fannie and Freddie on the rope

By: Wolfgang Münchau

17.07.08

Inflation up everywhere

17.07.08

Sarko’s diplomacy upsets the Irish

16.07.08

Some thoughts about causes and consequences

By: Wolfgang Münchau

16.07.08

The ECB and the Fed

By: Charles Wyplosz, Graduate Institute of International Studies

15.07.08

Sarkozy calls on the Irish to make up their mind or risk relegation

11.07.08

“Shocked, shocked” about the ECB’s commitment to price stability

By: Eurointelligence ECB Watch

11.07.08

General Archive (all items)

18.07.2008 European Parliament wants ECB to change inflation target

17.07.2008 Fannie and Freddie on the rope

17.07.2008 Inflation up everywhere

16.07.2008 Sarko’s diplomacy upsets the Irish

16.07.2008 Some thoughts about causes and consequences

15.07.2008 The ECB and the Fed

11.07.2008 Sarkozy calls on the Irish to make up their mind or risk relegation

11.07.2008 “Shocked, shocked” about the ECB’s commitment to price stability

10.07.2008 Germany's nuclear paranoia

10.07.2008 Draghi and Tremonti clash over Robin Hood tax

09.07.2008 Welcome to the bear market

09.07.2008 Tales of Leverage

08.07.2008 The villains are not the bankers, but the economists

08.07.2008 Austria’s Grand Coalition collapses after EU referendum row

07.07.2008 $1.6 trillion – the estimated costs of the credit crisis are rising by the week

04.07.2008 Probably one more rate rise this year

04.07.2008 A rate rise, plus a neutral bias – a typical European compromise

03.07.2008 Draghi criticises Berlusconi's economic policy

02.07.2008 The French EU presidency - a bumpy road ahead

02.07.2008 ECB’s rate rise – critisised by Sarkozy, backed by Merkel

02.07.2008 Why this may well be the last ECB rate rise this cycle

02.07.2008 Why this may well be the last ECB rate rise this cycle

01.07.2008 BIS blames central banks for credit crisis

01.07.2008 The consequences of non-ratification

30.06.2008 Germany's balanced budget

30.06.2008 Should central banks publish their interest rate forecasts?

27.06.2008 The credit crisis is back big time

26.06.2008 Rates to go up, inflation to stay up

25.06.2008 Prices up everywhere

24.06.2008 Ireland is wrong to put its miracle at risk

24.06.2008 The euro area is tipping into stagflation

23.06.2008 Oil production is shrinking, despite Saudi Arabia’s increase

20.06.2008 Sarkozy and Merkel rule out enlargement without Lisbon

19.06.2008 A Robin Hood tax for Italy – Tremonti’s 3-year budget plan

18.06.2008 Signs of strong second round effects in Spain

17.06.2008 Bank Earnings – The "V", "U" or "L" Recovery

17.06.2008 It’s democracy, stupid!

17.06.2008 Time to play hardball with the Irish

17.06.2008 Welcome to the brave new world of stability-oriented stagnation

17.06.2008 Ireland: A solution is emerging

16.06.2008 Ireland against the rest: The gloves are coming off

13.06.2008 Some thoughts on macroeconomic models

13.06.2008 EU’s future rests on Ireland's unmotivated electorate

12.06.2008 ECB: Ooops, we did not mean it

11.06.2008 The Berlusconi reforms: A first assessement

11.06.2008 Merkel demands greater role for euro area

10.06.2008 Time to decouple from the Fed

10.06.2008 Papademos sticks up his finger to the Fed

09.06.2008 Voodoo Banking

09.06.2008 What's the future of Spain's Popular Party

09.06.2008 So what if the Irish did vote No?

06.06.2008 Beyond 4.25%

06.06.2008 The inevitable happens – ECB preannounces rate rise in July

05.06.2008 Didier Reynders to succeed Junckers as euro group chief

04.06.2008 Bernanke’s verbal intervention ends the euro rally

03.06.2008 A tale of two countries

03.06.2008 Let’s postpone that date a little

02.06.2008 Draghi says Italy needs to cut taxes

30.05.2008 ECB forces revaluation of Slovakian koruna ahead of accession

29.05.2008 Euro area inflation at 3.6%

28.05.2008 Sarkozy wants to freeze VAT on petrol

27.05.2008 Sarkozy unveils third reform package

26.05.2008 What is to be done

26.05.2008 Lessons from the 1970s

26.05.2008 Has Fillon only got until the end of the year?

23.05.2008 The return of stagflation

22.05.2008 Fiscal Stimulus: Is more needed?

22.05.2008 German Grand Coalition in crisis

21.05.2008 Alarming rise in US and German inflation – and oil at $130

20.05.2008 Trichet says crisis continues

19.05.2008 Inflation everywhere

12.05.2008 Nuclear De-Leveraging

12.05.2008 The global euro needs stronger institutions

08.05.2008 Ten years on

07.05.2008 Fed governor warns of US monetary policy reversal to contain inflationary pressures

06.05.2008 France favours Juncker and Barroso for the top jobs in the EU

05.05.2008 McKinsey says Germany in terminal decline

02.05.2008 The euro is getting weak. Help!

01.05.2008 Equity Analyst Siren Songs

30.04.2008 The US housing market is in the middle of a full blown crash

29.04.2008 Global adjustment will be long and painful

29.04.2008 Down but not out – the EU Commission’s spring forecasts

28.04.2008 Commission and France clash over policy co-ordination

28.04.2008 How strong are Spanish banks?

25.04.2008 It is happening – the business cycle is turning down over here

24.04.2008 Fed signals policy shift

23.04.2008 Noyer: Ooops, I did not say what I said

22.04.2008 ECB’s Mersh confirms that rate increases are on the agenda

22.04.2008 Let them eat cake...

22.04.2008 So how about this rate increase?

21.04.2008 Quite possibly the most important French reform yet

18.04.2008 Is the ECB preparing to raise interest rates?

17.04.2008 Global liquidity drives house prices

17.04.2008 A Berlusconi-Sarkozy alliance in Europe?

17.04.2008 Berlusconi is forced into U-turn on Alitalia/Air France

16.04.2008 Is Europe Finally Back?

16.04.2008 Back to the 1980s: Inflation is becoming our main problem

15.04.2008 Pessimism about the eurozone is misplaced

15.04.2008 Berlusconi’s landslide – and no more rainbows

14.04.2008 When will the crisis start to hit to Europe?

11.04.2008 Trichet remains trough – and the euro shoots through the roof

09.04.2008 The euro at 80 pence – and heading towards parity

09.04.2008 What’s a trillion?

08.04.2008 Central banks must care about asset prices

08.04.2008 An incredible mess in Germany's state banking sector

07.04.2008 Slovakia applies to join euro

06.04.2008 House prices have 30-40% more to fall

06.04.2008 Bertie's legacy

04.04.2008 Spain might already be in recession

03.04.2008 Bye Bye Bertie

02.04.2008 Draghi’s list

01.04.2008 The second round effects arrived yesterday

31.03.2008 Forget about Germany's "decoupling"

28.03.2008 Germany is facing a big public sector strike from April

27.03.2008 Spanish real estate market is already collapsing

26.03.2008 Spain on the verge of a nervous breakdown

26.03.2008 Meltdown in Iceland

25.03.2008 ECB not enthusiastic about bailout

24.03.2008 Why the euro will soon replace the dollar as the world's reserve currency

20.03.2008 Back to square one

19.03.2008 Ten reasons to leave the euro-dollar exchange rate alone

19.03.2008 Ben's depression

19.03.2008 The Fed apparently cares about inflation

18.03.2008 Genuine reforms please, not more taxis

18.03.2008 The end of the ammo

17.03.2008 A Run on America

17.03.2008 The US financial system shows signs of imploding

16.03.2008 What Spain needs to do

14.03.2008 Towards $1.60, $1.70, $1.80...

13.03.2008 Out of control: credit

13.03.2008 Hedge fund woes end market rally

12.03.2008 Is US inflation at 8%?

12.03.2008 Pawnbroker of last resort

11.03.2008 Welcome to the meltdown

10.03.2008 Central bankers cannot stop this contagion

10.03.2008 Forget about Q2

10.03.2008 Zapatero gets to clean up his own mess

07.03.2008 ECB changes course

06.03.2008 Time to stop forecasting, and to start thinking

06.03.2008 A day of strikes

05.03.2008 No chance for Steinbruck's tax crackdown proposals

04.03.2008 Towards $1.60?

03.03.2008 Finance ministers to discuss tax co-operation

02.03.2008 A crisis is in store for Spain's election victor

29.02.2008 Bernanke: We have a problem

28.02.2008 European Commission might rule German bank bailouts illegal

27.02.2008 Horrible economic news everywhere: So why is the German consumer is optimistic?

26.02.2008 Fiscal Action Versus Monetary Stimulus? A Faulty Comparison

26.02.2008 The UK can no longer rely on being cool

26.02.2008 Hungary lets forint float against the euro

25.02.2008 Will Merkel stitch up an alliance with the Greens?

22.02.2008 How Kurt Beck plans to replace Angela Merkel in 2009

21.02.2008 German wage deal provides evidence of second round effects

20.02.2008 The cause of tax evasion are taxes

20.02.2008 The finanicial crisis is coming Europe, big time

19.02.2008 Berlusconi is no longer assured of victory in Italian elections

18.02.2008 The death of German corporatism

18.02.2008 Germany expects huge tax windfall

18.02.2008 The Credit Default Swap ("CDS") Market – Will It Unravel?

18.02.2008 Why the Fed should not prevent a US recession

15.02.2008 Euro area surprisingly robust

14.02.2008 Who would have thought that?

14.02.2008 German government bails out IKB with €1bn

13.02.2008 When tragedy turns into farce

13.02.2008 German trade unions begin strike in support of 8% pay demand

12.02.2008 Better TED than Dead! – The Tale of Inter-Bank Rates

12.02.2008 A new ultra-tough fiscal framework for Germany

11.02.2008 Forget about deflation

11.02.2008 Out of control: Inflation

11.02.2008 G7 now officially aware that there is a credit crisis

08.02.2008 What exactly did Mr Trichet say?

07.02.2008 Day of carnage on credit markets

06.02.2008 Time for the euro area to become part of the solution

06.02.2008 A Super-Tuesday for the stock market - worst fall this year

05.02.2008 Expect no economic decoupling - but policy decoupling

05.02.2008 Some thoughts about Berlusconi

05.02.2008 Italy is spared the prospects of an interim government

04.02.2008 Good news from Italy

04.02.2008 Fillon pushes ahead with reform agenda

03.02.2008 The Credit Crunch – In 2008 The Worst May Keep Getting Worse

01.02.2008 Growing doubts that Marini can pull it off

31.01.2008 What the credit numbers tell us

31.01.2008 Who gives a damn about inflation?

31.01.2008 A new interim prime minister, and continued impasse for Italy

30.01.2008 Italian president is thinking

29.01.2008 Euro Coin Indicator signals a sharp downturn ahead

29.01.2008 End of a love affair

29.01.2008 Societe Generale: A rogue trader or a rogue bank?

28.01.2008 Getting desperate

28.01.2008 Don't Count on the ECB to cut interest rates

28.01.2008 Look Beyond the Quick Fix!

28.01.2008 A seismic political shift to the left in Germany

25.01.2008 Prodi resigns leaving Italian politics in a complete mess

25.01.2008 Job Description for a Rogue Trader

24.01.2008 How Contagion Works

24.01.2008 Is the Fed monetarist?

24.01.2008 Prodi government on knife-edge

23.01.2008 Markets largely unimpressed by Fed rate cut

22.01.2008 Should we follow "Helicopter Ben"?

22.01.2008 The crash of 2008

21.01.2008 Attali saves France

20.01.2008 Why this US recession is going to be long and ugly

18.01.2008 Yves Mersh: Je regrette tout

17.01.2008 What did Yves Mersh say?

17.01.2008 A Luxembourger sends the euro tumbling - and it was not Mr Juncker

16.01.2008 What actually happened in Berlin

16.01.2008 Germany has changed its mind on the eurozone summit - A Nein from Berlin

15.01.2008 The case for adapting the policy framework in the euro area

15.01.2008

15.01.2008 Paris plans euro area summit - Berlin accepts

14.01.2008 Not merely a subprime crisis

14.01.2008 Krugman on monetary transmission channels

14.01.2008 Verhofstadt attacks subprime “Pralinengipfel” by the four largest EU member states

11.01.2008 ECB and Fed split over policy response

10.01.2008 Contagion everywhere

10.01.2008 The next wave of the credit crisis is about to arrive

09.01.2008 Germany's economic mirage

09.01.2008 Gold soars to new record among inflation fears

08.01.2008 Eurozone economy relatively strong - but Spain is in trouble

07.01.2008 Prepare for a global economic downturn, but not a meltdown

07.01.2008 Inflation pressures grow in Europe as oil prices soar to new record

07.01.2008 The Decoupling of Decoupling

20.12.2007 Europe's workers want compensation for loss of purchasing power

19.12.2007 The helicopters came

19.12.2007 True Guide to the Lisbon Treaty

18.12.2007 ECB injects ever more cash into the system

17.12.2007 Hold tight, the central banks have no plan

17.12.2007 More inflation on the way

14.12.2007 Thumbs down on central bank concerted action

13.12.2007 Five central banks in co-ordinated bail-out

12.12.2007 Who is Henri Guaino?

12.12.2007 SachsenLB could go bust with €43bn in bad investments

11.12.2007 No single tactic will beat the subprime crisis

11.12.2007 ECB's governing council at odds with staff

10.12.2007 Elysee Palace proposes a change of ECB statutes

07.12.2007 ECB considers a rate rise

06.12.2007 Visco says ECB on "suicide mission" if it does not cut rates

05.12.2007 Why my inflation expectations have gone up

05.12.2007 More evidence that the credit crisis is about to get worse

04.12.2007 Inflation and a strong euro top euro group's agenda

03.12.2007 Rate cutting will not get us out of this mess

03.12.2007 175 days - Belgium's crisis is turning into farce

30.11.2007 Panic in the one-month Euribor market

29.11.2007 Doves everywhere

28.11.2007 German and French business confidence up sharply

27.11.2007 2-Year Treasuries now at 2.88% - are the markets going crazy?

27.11.2007 Dollar’s last lap as the only anchor currency

26.11.2007 Mondays are getting gloomier

23.11.2007 Great Danes

22.11.2007 A crisis for those whose first language is English

22.11.2007 Credit crisis getting worse - and the markets are panicking

21.11.2007 Juncker is getting nervous about the euro's exchange rate

20.11.2007 How effective is peer pressure in practice?

20.11.2007 Are the Chinese about to dump dollars?

20.11.2007 Watch out! The Euro Area is getting more assertive

19.11.2007 Opec worried about a further fall in the dollar

18.11.2007 Eurozone breakup would trigger the mother of all financial crises

16.11.2007 United Arab Emirates and Qatar plan to abandon dollar peg

15.11.2007 Spanish inflation rises to 3.6%

14.11.2007 There is more to central banking than inflation targeting

14.11.2007 Locust man resigns

13.11.2007 Japan intervenes verbally to halt rise in the yen

12.11.2007 This crisis goes on and on and on

12.11.2007 All gloom as the week starts

09.11.2007 Bernanke acknowledges inflation risks, while ECB remains on the fence

08.11.2007 A Mr Cheng from China sends the euro to $1.47

07.11.2007 The ECB, the Fed, and the Credit Crisis

07.11.2007 S&P and Moody's issues default notices for CDOs

06.11.2007 The Credit Crunch is getting worse

06.11.2007 The case for a rise in European interest rates

05.11.2007 The next round of the credit crunch: two German banks reportedly in trouble

04.11.2007 Preparing for the next financial crisis

02.11.2007 The credit crisis is back

31.10.2007 German government agrees anti-foreigner investment law

30.10.2007 Panic buying sends oil, dollar, and gold to new records

29.10.2007 €-coin and the euro-area economic outlook: where do we stand?

29.10.2007 Is the end of the Prodi government getting closer?

26.10.2007 Sarkozy's Green Revolution

25.10.2007 Secret EU paper calls for a strategic response to "adversary" Russia

24.10.2007 What to make of Axel Weber's comments on inflation?

24.10.2007 Watch out for political change in Germany

24.10.2007 The German Grand Coalition - The endgame has started

23.10.2007 Inflation is a bigger problem than you think

23.10.2007 ECB has been getting more alarmed about inflation "in recent weeks"

19.10.2007 Europe's Reform Treaty is a done deal

18.10.2007 France and Germany on strike

18.10.2007 Some thougths about the future of the euro

17.10.2007 The flight of money out of the US has began in earnest

16.10.2007 After the US-led war, here comes the US-led financial crisis

16.10.2007 And now ... the bailout

15.10.2007 Monetary Policy, not rating agencies, are the cause of this crisis

15.10.2007 What to make of the ECB's hawks

15.10.2007 Expect no action, just words, from G7 on the dollar

12.10.2007 Weber hints at another interest rate rise

11.10.2007 EMU and inequality: The facts

11.10.2007 Draghi criticises Italian government over budget

10.10.2007 A pragmatic view of money

10.10.2007 China rebuffs EU over exchange rate

09.10.2007 Ecofin in crackdown on rating agencies

08.10.2007 The death of Hartz IV

08.10.2007 Europe's decade of economic reform draws to a close

08.10.2007 Germany's Agenda 2010 collapses amid mutual recriminations

05.10.2007 How worried is the ECB about inflation?

05.10.2007 No change in bias - ECB still sees upside risks to inflation

04.10.2007 Now Angela Merkel worries about the euro

03.10.2007 Credit crisis hits European mortgages

03.10.2007 Some thoughs on inflation targeting

02.10.2007 The times they are a-changin’…

02.10.2007 And now comes the bill for the subprime crisis

01.10.2007 The conditions are in place for another appreciation in the euro's exchange rate

01.10.2007 Budget deals allows Prodi to limp on

28.09.2007 The end of the Irish boom

28.09.2007 Europeans ponder policy action as euro approaches $1.42

27.09.2007 ECB pondering alternatives to rescue money market

26.09.2007 Give banks some credit for taking risks

26.09.2007 Hunting season has started

26.09.2007 Conditions in the European money markets deteriorate further

25.09.2007 Mixed responses to EU retail banking proposals

25.09.2007 Does a downward-sloping yield curve predict a recession?

25.09.2007 IMF warns that crisis is about to spread

24.09.2007 Why history matters for policy

24.09.2007 The coming house price crash in Europe

24.09.2007 The credit crisis has hit the Spanish real estate market

23.09.2007 Subprime crisis: Second-best solutions

21.09.2007 Euro breaks through $1.40, Oil at $84, Gold at $735

20.09.2007 Towards $1.50?

20.09.2007 Heads must roll: FT says Mervyn King’s position untenable

19.09.2007 When financial results are signifying nothing

19.09.2007 The economic consequences of the Bernanke put

19.09.2007 Fed bails out Wall Street – Dollar close to $1.40

18.09.2007 The panic is spreading

17.09.2007 Brace for Act II when the crisis goes global

17.09.2007 Property market crisis spills over to Europe

14.09.2007 What has gotten into Mervyn King?

14.09.2007 A banking crisis across the Channel

13.09.2007 A response to Alan

13.09.2007 Towards $1.40

12.09.2007 Credit market crisis goes on and on

11.09.2007 France and Germany want to have another go at hedge funds

10.09.2007 The challenges of joining EMU under price level convergence

10.09.2007 Forget about Hedge Funds. The real issue is market transparency.

10.09.2007 Crunch week in the credit markets

09.09.2007 The ECB and its Watchers - almost a decade

07.09.2007 ECB declares moratorium on interest rate increases

06.09.2007 Credit Crunch – The New Diet Snack for Financial Markets

06.09.2007 Credit Crisis – First signs of a spillover into the real economy

05.09.2007 EU to reject a single banking regulator

05.09.2007 Thanks Tito and Luigi, but no thanks!

04.09.2007 Credit crisis: The calm before the next storm

03.09.2007 Is Europe ready for a major banking crisis?

03.09.2007 Prepare for the credit crisis to spread

03.09.2007 Axel Weber: Hallsmarks of a Bank Run

31.08.2007 Sarkozy’s presents his protectionist agenda

30.08.2007 Credit Crisis: The demand for short-term euro money explodes in August

29.08.2007 Is Strauss-Kahn going to be the last European at the IMF?

28.08.2007 Cracks in the Foundations of Growth

28.08.2007 Federal Reserve Policy Actions in August 2007: Answers to More Questions

28.08.2007 Subprime crisis: Greenspan’s Legacy

28.08.2007 ECB to abandon September rate hike

27.08.2007 Another Landesbank bites the dust

27.08.2007 Get used to 4% - Lessons from the Credit Crunch

27.08.2007 Subprime Contagion – the policy lessons

12.08.2007 Why the ECB should look at M2

01.08.2007 A short update: Our view on the credit markets

16.07.2007 How to make the euro more sustainable

16.07.2007 The case for an intelligent exchange-rate policy for the euro area

13.07.2007 Merkel rebuffs Sarkozy

12.07.2007 Is Sarkozy winning?

12.07.2007 Could interest rates stay at 4% for the rest of the year?

12.07.2007 First signs of panic in the credit markets

11.07.2007 Towards $1.40

10.07.2007 Mr Sarkozy and the euro

10.07.2007 The German Economy: Be Careful What You Ask For

10.07.2007 Sarkozy clashes with Steinbruck

09.07.2007 The gentlemen's agreement fails Europe too

09.07.2007 Strauss-Kahn emerges as frontrunner to head the IMF

06.07.2007 September or October? Does it matter?

06.07.2007 Is the ECB going soft?

05.07.2007 High noon approaches in Brussels as Merkel and Steinbruck attack Sarkozy

04.07.2007 Nine questions about what to expect from Sarkozy's trip to Brussels next week

04.07.2007 The anti-Sarkozy backlash is starting to form in the EU

03.07.2007 Sarkozy begs for more time to balance the budget

02.07.2007 Wake-up call for the ECB

02.07.2007 A primer on the EU's Reform Treaty

02.07.2007 Sarkozy jeopardises the future of the euro area

02.07.2007 Is Sarkozy throwing EMU into a crisis?

29.06.2007 After his early exit from the IMF will Rato return to Spanish politics?

28.06.2007 EMU: Divergence or Convergence?

28.06.2007 Is the credit market crunch finally happening?

27.06.2007 What about Core Europe?

27.06.2007 Austrian central bank warns of systemic financial risks in Eastern Europe

26.06.2007 How important is the Reform Treaty for the Euro Area?

26.06.2007 Misplaced scepticism about Germany’s growth potential

26.06.2007 Setback for Turkey as France vetoes economic accession talks

25.06.2007 Europe's drift into mercantilism

25.06.2007 EU has its treaty; now the battle is over protectionism

25.06.2007 Ireland's Jamaica Coalition

22.06.2007 Lech Kaczynski says he does not expect a treaty deal

21.06.2007 The consequences of adopting the euro for Poland

21.06.2007 Walter Veltroni emerges as Prodi's eventual successor

20.06.2007 Some notes on the source of global imbalances

20.06.2007 Sarkozy appoints pro-globalisation Anglophile to the finance ministry

19.06.2007 The price of the Constitution

19.06.2007 The mathematics of European voting rights

19.06.2007 The EU's constitutional debate takes a nasty turn

18.06.2007 Sarkozy's (almost) electoral setback

15.06.2007 France's fiscal follies

15.06.2007 Is Poland going to veto a deal over the EU Constitution?

14.06.2007 Germany's looming S&L crisis

14.06.2007 The rise in long term bond yields comes at a good time for the euro area

14.06.2007 Germany may be heading into a savings & loan crisis

13.06.2007 Another bad day for the bond markets – Is this the beginning of the big adjustment?

12.06.2007 Deep divisions surface in Germany's Grand Coalition

11.06.2007 What is Kurt Beck up to?

11.06.2007 Do not get too excited by Germany’s recovery

11.06.2007 IMF/BIS warn merger boom a threat to financial stability

08.06.2007 Yet another serious embarrassment for the Prodi administration – this time over pensions

07.06.2007