Global Economic Intersection
Advertisement
  • Home
  • Economics
  • Finance
  • Politics
  • Investments
    • Invest in Amazon $250
  • Cryptocurrency
    • Best Bitcoin Accounts
    • Bitcoin Robot
      • Quantum AI
      • Bitcoin Era
      • Bitcoin Aussie System
      • Bitcoin Profit
      • Bitcoin Code
      • eKrona Cryptocurrency
      • Bitcoin Up
      • Bitcoin Prime
      • Yuan Pay Group
      • Immediate Profit
      • BitIQ
      • BitQH
      • Bitcoin Loophole
      • Crypto Boom
      • Bitcoin Treasure
      • Bitcoin Lucro
      • Bitcoin System
      • Oil Profit
      • The News Spy
      • Bitcoin Buyer
      • Bitcoin Inform
      • Immediate Edge
      • Bitcoin Evolution
      • Cryptohopper
      • Ethereum Trader
      • BitQL
      • Quantum Code
      • Bitcoin Revolution
      • British Trade Platform
      • British Bitcoin Profit
    • Bitcoin Reddit
    • Celebrities
      • Dr. Chris Brown Bitcoin
      • Teeka Tiwari Bitcoin
      • Russell Brand Bitcoin
      • Holly Willoughby Bitcoin
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Economics
  • Finance
  • Politics
  • Investments
    • Invest in Amazon $250
  • Cryptocurrency
    • Best Bitcoin Accounts
    • Bitcoin Robot
      • Quantum AI
      • Bitcoin Era
      • Bitcoin Aussie System
      • Bitcoin Profit
      • Bitcoin Code
      • eKrona Cryptocurrency
      • Bitcoin Up
      • Bitcoin Prime
      • Yuan Pay Group
      • Immediate Profit
      • BitIQ
      • BitQH
      • Bitcoin Loophole
      • Crypto Boom
      • Bitcoin Treasure
      • Bitcoin Lucro
      • Bitcoin System
      • Oil Profit
      • The News Spy
      • Bitcoin Buyer
      • Bitcoin Inform
      • Immediate Edge
      • Bitcoin Evolution
      • Cryptohopper
      • Ethereum Trader
      • BitQL
      • Quantum Code
      • Bitcoin Revolution
      • British Trade Platform
      • British Bitcoin Profit
    • Bitcoin Reddit
    • Celebrities
      • Dr. Chris Brown Bitcoin
      • Teeka Tiwari Bitcoin
      • Russell Brand Bitcoin
      • Holly Willoughby Bitcoin
No Result
View All Result
Global Economic Intersection
No Result
View All Result

Strong Euro, Revised Views

admin by admin
March 25, 2013
in Uncategorized
0
0
SHARES
2
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Written by Hilary Barnes

The crisis over the rescue of the Cypriot banks sent the euro lower against the dollar, and future incidents of the same type, as the euro crisis continues to stumble on, will no doubt have the same effect, but only momentarily.

For the real question is why the euro is so persistently strong. The usual explanation is that it is because the European Central Bank insists of keeping its key interest rate, now 0.75 %, well above the rates charged by the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England and is not engaged in quantitative easing. There is obviously some truth in this.

But there is another force at work, which does not seem to get much play on the squawk boxes : the European addiction to austerity, or fiscal consolidation, the obligatory application of policies to reduce budget deficits, and eventually sovereign debt to GDP ratios, which are being pursued with nothing but a sigh of regret for soaring unemployment.

De-growthing comes first in the eurozone book of rules, and it’s just too bad if unemployment happens to be the collateral damage.

There is now pressure, coming not only from the peripheral countries but also from three large members, France, Spain and Italy, for a more measured pace of budget deficit reduction.

But the fact of the matter is, as Olli Rehn, of “Rehn of Terror” fame, keeps pointing out, that the policy which member states are being pressured into implementing by the European Commission is laid down by treaties signed by all the euro zone members.

There is some elatastic in the rules, and a bit of extend and pretend may be permissible, but the European Commission does not have a choice – the Rehn of Olli moves in predestinate grooves – and neither do member states with excessive deficits and debts, unless the treaties are amended.

France’s President Francois Hollande among others is pressing for the ECB to act in ways that will weaken the euro in the hope that this will put some backbone into the profits of French export businesses (think Airbus).

But it seems to be a little recognised fact that austerity is a powerful instrument for strengthening the euro, or keeping it strong, barring, of course, political events that might cause a euro meltdown.

How come? It is simple, and it shows up in the statistics, too. Simultaneous fiscal consolidtion in all 17 euro zone states, which is what we see, at a time when the private sector has not yet completed the process of deleveraging after housing and consumer spending booms in the run up to the financial crisis, is pushing the current accounts of all the member towards surplus or increased surplus (with the possible exception of Germany). This shows up nicely in the Winter report on the state of the Euro zone economy published in February by the European Commission.

From 2000 to 2011, the euro zone current account fluctuated mildly around the zero line. In 2012 it shot up to about 1.4% of zone GDP and the commission’s forecasts for 2013 and 2014 are surpluses of 2.1 and 2.4 % of GDP.

He latest figures from Eurostat on euro zone’s balance of trade in goods showed the same tendency, the balance gong from a deficit €16bn in year 2011 to a surplus of €81bn in 2012.

In a properly constructed moneary union there is no point in expecting all member states to run a current account surplus. Only the surplus of the monetary union as a whole is of any importance.

But the euro zone is a dysfunctional monetary union and a policy which forces all member states to run or tend to run a current account deficit is not in its the best interests, as this acts as an important force for strenghtening the euro exchange rate and holding back export groath.

My supposition is, too, that this is a factor against which a reduction in the ECB’s key interest rate would not have much impact. And all the time the jobless line is set to climb and climb and climb.

Previous Post

Electricity Usage Efficiency: 5-Fold Improvement in 60 Years

Next Post

The Week Ahead: More Cyprus Fallout?

Related Posts

Weaker Dollar Keeps Bitcoin Above $30K As Analysts Target 60% BTC Dominance
Economics

Weaker Dollar Keeps Bitcoin Above $30K As Analysts Target 60% BTC Dominance

by John Wanguba
May 20, 2022
Ethereum Developers Tip The Merge Might Happen In August ‘If All Goes As Planned’
Business

Ethereum Developers Tip The Merge Might Happen In August ‘If All Goes As Planned’

by John Wanguba
May 20, 2022
Commonwealth Bank Puts Crypto Trading Test On Ice As Regulators Hesitate
Business

Commonwealth Bank Puts Crypto Trading Test On Ice As Regulators Hesitate

by John Wanguba
May 20, 2022
Musk Hints He Could Reprice Twitter Deal As He Looks At Fake Accounts
Business

Musk Hints He Could Reprice Twitter Deal As He Looks At Fake Accounts

by John Wanguba
May 18, 2022
Madonna Joins Hands With Digital Artist “Beeple” To Launch New NFTs
Business

Madonna Joins Hands With Digital Artist “Beeple” To Launch New NFTs

by John Wanguba
May 18, 2022
Next Post

The Week Ahead: More Cyprus Fallout?

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Browse by Category

  • Business
  • Econ Intersect News
  • Economics
  • Finance
  • Politics
  • Uncategorized

Browse by Tags

adoption altcoins banking Binance Bitcoin Bitcoin adoption Bitcoin market Bitcoin mining blockchain BTC business Coinbase crypto crypto adoption cryptocurrency crypto exchange crypto market crypto regulation decentralized finance DeFi digital assets Elon Musk ETH Ethereum Ethereum blockchain finance funding government investment market analysis Metaverse mining NFT NFT marketplace NFTs nonfungible tokens nonfungible tokens (NFTs) price analysis regulation Russia social media technology Tesla the US Twitter

Archives

  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • August 2010
  • August 2009

Categories

  • Business
  • Econ Intersect News
  • Economics
  • Finance
  • Politics
  • Uncategorized
Global Economic Intersection

After nearly 11 years of 24/7/365 operation, Global Economic Intersection co-founders Steven Hansen and John Lounsbury are retiring. The new owner, a global media company in London, is in the process of completing the set-up of Global Economic Intersection files in their system and publishing platform. The official website ownership transfer took place on 24 August.

Categories

  • Business
  • Econ Intersect News
  • Economics
  • Finance
  • Politics
  • Uncategorized

Recent Posts

  • Weaker Dollar Keeps Bitcoin Above $30K As Analysts Target 60% BTC Dominance
  • Ethereum Developers Tip The Merge Might Happen In August ‘If All Goes As Planned’
  • Commonwealth Bank Puts Crypto Trading Test On Ice As Regulators Hesitate

© Copyright 2021 EconIntersect - Economic news, analysis and opinion.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Contact Us
  • Bitcoin Robot
    • Bitcoin Profit
    • Bitcoin Code
    • Quantum AI
    • eKrona Cryptocurrency
    • Bitcoin Up
    • Bitcoin Prime
    • Yuan Pay Group
    • Immediate Profit
    • BitIQ
    • Bitcoin Loophole
    • Crypto Boom
    • Bitcoin Era
    • Bitcoin Treasure
    • Bitcoin Lucro
    • Bitcoin System
    • Oil Profit
    • The News Spy
    • British Bitcoin Profit
    • Bitcoin Trader
  • Bitcoin Reddit

© Copyright 2021 EconIntersect - Economic news, analysis and opinion.

en English
ar Arabicbg Bulgarianda Danishnl Dutchen Englishfi Finnishfr Frenchde Germanel Greekit Italianja Japaneselv Latvianno Norwegianpl Polishpt Portuguesero Romanianes Spanishsv Swedish