Economy & Trade

A Revolution with European Ramifications

“The supply shock created by a surge in North American oil production will be as transformative to the market over the next five years as was the rise of Chinese demand over the last 15.” – International Energy Agency European policymakers have failed to grasp the geopolitical and economic (…)

Monday 30 December 2013

The failure of the BAE-EADS merger

Last autumn witnessed the collapse of the important Paris agreement between two great European defence enterprises, BAE Systems and EADS, with their respective administrators Ian King and Tom Enders. The collapse of the negotiations was caused by the opposition of the British government to the (…)

Thursday 30 May 2013

Spend now, save later

When trapped in quicksand, our instinctive response is to flail about in an attempt to lift ourselves out of this mortal trap, but struggling to get out is actually the quickest way to go down. The solution to the debt crisis could be equally counterintuitive. The famous debt-to-GDP ratio has (…)

Thursday 23 May 2013

Tax havens a matter of social responsibility

In a time when European Union governments are seeking ways to repair their public finances, some countries are striving to survive and to avoid default and European bank account holders and taxpayers are suffering consistent loss of money, tax havens and banking secrecy are not just a financial (…)

Saturday 13 April 2013

Is there an ideal scenario in bailing out countries?

EU bailouts need to fulfill a political, financial and economic requirement at the same time. It is impossible to fulfill them all at the same time; hence EU bailouts are doomed to be imperfect. As each bailout is unique in the way these three dimensions are intertwined, there should be no “one (…)

Wednesday 3 April 2013

The EU wants to secure the European banking rules, the UK thinks not

Last week the EU Financial Ministers agreed on a compromise on the reform of prudential banking rules (CRD IV-CRR) that adapts at the European level international prudential banking rules under the Basel III agreement, adopted by the Basel Committee. It provides for stricter capital requirements (…)

Sunday 24 March 2013

European budget: Red card to our 27 Heads of State and Government

’I am upset because you have made me begin to doubt the European project, because you have been acting like a bunch of tightwads, and because you have thrown a total monkey wrench in the works of the European Union and its actions.’ To the European Union Heads of State and Government, After (…)

Friday 22 March 2013

The ’Two Pack’ Deal

Last week, the European Parliament, the Commission and the Council have struck an important deal on the ’two pack’ fiscal rules. It is a fundamental step towards a stronger economic and fiscal integration in the EU. Now Brussels has to address the main challenge assuring a proper democratic (…)

Thursday 28 February 2013

MFF 2014-2020, “Deal done”... or not?

European leaders reached an agreement on the EU multiannual financial framework 2014-2020 on Friday after 24 hours of intense negotiations. The deal resulted in a cut of 12 billions euros from the November Van Rompuy proposal which means that the EU budget is reduced for the first time in (…)

Tuesday 12 February 2013

Think the financial transaction tax is really an EU tax? Think again.

As the European Union struggles to come up with a budget and its member states appear incapable of coming to any sort of an agreement, the introduction of a financial transaction tax to help finance the EU budget might seem like a welcome idea to some. A welcome idea, that is, if the tax were (…)

Sunday 3 February 2013

Preventing a further banking crisis, an European priority

While the European banking system is shaken by the worst crisis ever and the Italian Monte Paschi di Siena, the world’s oldest bank, is falling down, the European Commission seems ready to water down the Liikanen Committee’s recommendations about ringfencing of proprietary banking trading. (…)

Thursday 31 January 2013

A stricter budgetary discipline, but is it really binding?

The year 2013 starts on new legal basis for the European Union. Following the ratification by Finland the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union has entered into forced on 1 January. The Treaty introduces the following modifications: • A (…)

Thursday 3 January 2013
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