Europe Economics Weekly A long road still ahead for Greece The markets responded with some relief to last week’s provisional approval by the institutions formerly known as the troika of the proposal advanced by the Greek government for a four-month extension... 27th February 2015 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly More on the rising risk and effects of a Grexit The risk of a Grexit has risen further still this week with the positions of the Eurogroup and the Greek Government seeming to be as far apart as ever. Even if a deal is cobbled together at the latest... 20th February 2015 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Time is running out for Greece The failure of the Eurogroup last week to agree even on steps for further discussions on Greece does not bode well for the emergence of a full solution at Monday’s meeting. This could prompt nerves... 13th February 2015 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Grexit risks rising Several developments last week arguably brought Greece closer to exiting the euro-zone than it has ever been. While the Government appeared to give ground on its demands for debt restructuring, its... 6th February 2015 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Markets still complacent on Greece’s debt challenge Our concerns that the markets have been under-estimating the challenge faced by the new Syriza-led Greek Government and the Troika in trying to reach a mutually acceptable solution to Greece’s debt... 30th January 2015 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Two cheers for the ECB The ECB’s Governing Council deserves credit for meeting the demandingly high level of expectations with last week’s announcement of a quantitative easing programme worth at least €1trn. The size and... 23rd January 2015 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly SNB move is a heavy blow for the Swiss economy The sharp appreciation of the franc caused by the Swiss National Bank’s abandonment of its currency ceiling last week led to a substantial drop in the domestic value of the SNB’s foreign currency... 16th January 2015 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly ECB to focus on deflation, not politics Data last week, including the drop in HICP inflation to -0.2%, heightened the risk of a prolonged bout of deflation in the single currency area. But on the face of it at least, the escalating... 9th January 2015 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly A predictably weak year The euro-zone economy behaved largely as we anticipated in 2014, with growth remaining distinctly sluggish, inflation falling, the ECB forced into more policy action and the euro weakening. The... 19th December 2014 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Greek crisis and falling oil price strengthen case for QE We disagree with speculation that the resurgence of the Greek crisis and the fall in the oil price have reduced the chance of quantitative easing. Indeed, we think that both factors have increased the... 12th December 2014 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly ECB must deliver on QE to push euro lower The rise in the euro during the ECB’s press conference last week apparently reflected disappointment that President Draghi did not provide more explicit signals that quantitative easing (QE) is coming... 5th December 2014 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Has the euro fallen far enough? The fall in the euro since the spring looks likely to have at least some upward effect on both the growth of euro-zone exports and the level of euro-zone consumer price inflation. But the ECB should... 28th November 2014 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly ECB divisions point to half-hearted QE The objections of German Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann to the prospect of an ECB quantitative easing programme including government bond purchases are unlikely to prevent such a programme being... 21st November 2014 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly The periphery catches up – oh dear One notable element of last week’s euro-zone GDP figures for the third quarter was the strength of the peripheral economies, even Greece, in relation to the core. This might be seen as confirmation... 14th November 2014 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly What will trigger ECB QE and when? The ECB suggested last week that preparations are finally underway to launch full-blown quantitative easing. It seems that action will be triggered by either of two factors: evidence that existing... 7th November 2014 · 1 min read
Europe Economics Weekly Banking sector recovery still appears fragile Last week’s bank stress test results, September’s lending data and the ECB’s latest Bank Lending Survey all suggested that conditions in the euro-zone’s banking sector are, on the whole, improving... 31st October 2014 · 1 min read