The ECB and the Fed

By: Charles Wyplosz, Graduate Institute of International Studies

Facing different situations, the Fed and the ECB muddle through, each in its own way.

Fannie and Freddie on the rope

By: Wolfgang Münchau

When house price are expected to decline by 30%, some strange things are happening

The villains are not the bankers, but the economists

This is not a financial crisis, but a crisis of economic policy. We should thus be sceptical when economists-turned-policy makers produce the same prescriptions now which they have been peddling for the last 15 years.

The consequences of non-ratification

Can a country be excluded from membership of the European Union? The answer is yes as long as there was a political will. This column explains on how this can be done, in all its gory detail.

Ireland is wrong to put its miracle at risk

After a week of what European leaders call reflection, another Irish referendum beckons, to be held early next year. Without it, there might well be an attempt to oust the Irish from the European Union.

Time to play hardball with the Irish

There are only two solutions to the Irish dilemma, both involving the retention of the Lisbon Treaty: Offer the Irish a meaningless protocol that provides guarantees they already have, or force them out of the EU.