Little’s progressive vision
Having become leader only a couple of months ago, there were great expectations for Andrew Little to spell out what Labour would focus on under his watch. He delivered in his ‘State of the Nation’ speech. [...]
2015
Tsipras’ win is Merkel’s failure
The biggest loser in Greece’s snap election was not even on the ballot paper. It was German Chancellor Angela Merkel whose austerity policies in the euro crisis were rejected by Greece’s swing to the radical left. [...]
The euro crisis has become a game of chicken
The most important question of what the Greek election result will mean for the euro crisis has not been answered satisfactorily. There is no easy answer to this question, only a range of different scenarios. As of today, it is hard, if not impossible, to put probabilities to them. [...]
The euro’s path to junk status
Europe’s central bank has manoeuvred itself into a hole and the introduction of quantitative easing shows that it won’t stop digging. At least the Swiss National Bank got out before being dragged down any further. [...]
Who’s afraid of eurozone deflation?
By demonising ‘deflation’ (even if it is really just price stability by another name), the ECB underlines its commitment to helping the eurozone’s debtors, whether they are financial institutions or governments. The response to this so-called deflation threat will be to maintain interest rates negative or even embark on a program of quantitative easing, which may be announced over the coming days. In effect, however, such policies are just bailout programs by stealth.
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Australiens Party ist vorbei
Während Australien sich auf seinen Reform-Lorbeeren ausruhte, haben die Neuseeländer erfolgreich einen neuen Modernisierungspfad beschritten. Die Australier müssen es ihnen nun nachtun, wenn sie eine erfolgreiche Nation in der vom Pazifik geprägten Weltwirtschaft des 21. Jahrhunderts bleiben möchten. [...]
Merkel’s U-turn on Greece reveals Germany’s real motivation
Should the 25 January elections result in a Syriza-led government, we will find out whether the Germans can actually succeed in kicking Greece out of the euro and also whether their optimism about being able to contain the crisis in Greece was justified. [...]