Month: May 2013

Whether there have to be single-use oil canisters on European restaurant tables or not may not be the biggest question for the world economy today. But to watch the European Union dealing with it in such an overly-bureaucratic way, one may well be concerned for the future of the European economy – not just in olive-growing countries.

Predictably, but regrettably, the Budget does little to defuse the fiscal time bomb that an ageing population poses for future spending on health care and retirement incomes. There is much still to be done after this still-laudable budget.

If I were a cynic, I would now be predicting the next European bailout recipient. And the winner is… Slovenia! But how would I know?

It is often said that nobody voluntarily moves to Wellington, but after a few weeks here hardly anyone wants to leave it. It certainly was like this for me.

This euro crisis is more than just a monetary crisis. It is way deeper than that. It really is just another episode in the epic battle of government against the markets. Typically it’s the markets that win in the long run.

The Bundesbank and the German constitutional court are confronting and challenging the ECB, and such a conflict cannot just be moderated away. Eventually, the Germans will need to come clear on where they want to take the eurozone.