• About me and this blog

Stefaan De Rynck

~ Public policy, leadership, EU politics

Stefaan De Rynck

Tag Archives: Euro crisis

Sinners and Saints in the Eurozone Crisis

26 Tuesday Nov 2013

Posted by Stefaan De Rynck in EU Politics, Leadership

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

ECB, Euro crisis, European Union, Jens Weidmann, monetary policy, Paul Krugman

In a talk at Harvard, German central bank governor Jens Weidmann warned against an overload of expectations on the European Central Bank for resolving the Euro crisis. Having recently opposed a decrease in the interest rate by the ECB, he said that a protracted period of low rates could lead to higher public expenditure and an undesirable situation whereby monetary policy becomes subordinate to government spending.

Reuters - Jens Weidmann wants central banks to do less and insists on national policies to solve the Euro crisis

Reuters – Jens Weidmann wants central banks to do less and insists on national policies to solve the Euro crisis

Weidmann started by referring to economics as moral philosophy, and used his sense of irony to declare himself a Keynesian philosopher for the purpose of the discussion.

Who are the sinners and saints in the Eurozone crisis so far? Weidmann mentioned reckless banks that now depend on ECB liquidity lifelines; wasteful states such as Greece; Germany ignoring the EU’s deficit rules in 2003; and interestingly, governments in the Eurozone who do not have a programme monitored by a Troika and thus do not feel real pressure to reform. In an attempt to raise the pressure, the Bundesbank president proposed to put a cap on how much sovereign debt banks can hold, which would be a more effective government debt brake than fiscal rules applied too leniently by the European Commission in his view.

Other sinners are wage earners in countries such as Portugal and Spain Continue reading →

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn

Like this:

Like Loading...

Divided leadership in the biggest world economies?

26 Thursday Sep 2013

Posted by Stefaan De Rynck in EU Politics, Leadership

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

debt ceiling, Euro crisis, Leadership, US politics

Lack of leadership is how many have characterised the European Union over the past years. Europeans reacted too slowly to the Euro crisis, it is argued, and kicked the can down the road as their divisions prevented them from defining a sound economic policy. But the current polarization in Washington and the vitriolic rhetoric against political opponents beats what I have witnessed in Brussels.

The episode over a possible government shutdown next Tuesday by the House Republicans, and a Treasury alarm note over a mid-October default continue an American saga that started two years ago. In 2011 a first round of haggling over the debt ceiling occurred, with Standard and Poor decreasing by a notch its US credit rating. To end the saga, political leadership in today’s Washington requires not so much finding common ground, Continue reading →

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn

Like this:

Like Loading...

Angela Merkel, political leadership and the Euro crisis

18 Wednesday Sep 2013

Posted by Stefaan De Rynck in EU Politics, Leadership

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Angela Merkel, Euro crisis, German elections, Leadership

Many observers expect the German elections on Sunday to result in a third mandate for Angela Merkel but with a switch in government coalition partner from the more free market liberals of the FDP to the Social-Democrats. Jack Ewing in yesterday’s New York Times writes that Merkel’s hand may be “forced” into a so called grand coalition between Germany’s two biggest parties.

The German elections matter for the more than 300 million people in the Euro area as they will shape the leadership for resolving the crisis. Angela Merkel has received heavy criticisms for her record: Joschka Fischer deplores a lack of vision, courage and strength of purpose. The columnist Wolfgang Munchau claims that the Euro cannot work with a German macro-economic policy. And Jürgen Habermas writes about a Germany dozing on a social volcano and shirking its responsibility. But could Merkel have adopted a radically different approach over recent years?

Exercising leadership is about disappointing your people at a rate that they can absorb, Marty Linsky says. Clearly, disappointment in Germany with the Euro has increased over recent years, Continue reading →

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn

Like this:

Like Loading...

Most recent posts

  • Crimea and Kosovo, one stands where one sits
  • What kind of EU democracy is emerging?
  • The German Judge and the Italian Banker

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Follow on twitter

My Tweets

Archives

  • March 2014 (2)
  • February 2014 (2)
  • January 2014 (1)
  • December 2013 (3)
  • November 2013 (3)
  • October 2013 (4)
  • September 2013 (5)

Categories

  • EU Politics
  • Leadership
  • Public Policy

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • Stefaan De Rynck
    • Join 36 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Stefaan De Rynck
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: