European Commission Tables Proposal on Greece to Break Logjam [Updated: EC Issues Denial]
More fog of reporting….did the European Commission lodge a proposal to break the Greek negotiating logjam? If so, it’s backpedaling at high speed.
Read more...Author Archives: Yves Smith
Greece Cornered as IMF and ECB Refuse to Relent
A flurry of stories this weekend confirms that Greece and its creditors remain hopelessly at odds. The inertial path is to a Greek default
Read more...Bill Black: Krugman is Half Right
Paul Krugman’s latest column fingers some valid targets but lets way too many other equally deserving ones off.
Read more...Links 5/16/15
Exit Strategy, Part One: ZIRP
Why exit from ZIRP has to precede exit from QE.
Read more...Will the TransPacific Partnership Agreement Go into the Deep Freeze?
The TransPacific Partnership is far from a done deal,. Delay in securing Congressional approval for Fast Track has high odds of throwing a fatal wrench in the overseas timing.
Read more...Bill Black: New Labour Leaders Want to Go Back to Blair’s Policies That Blew Up the UK
How Tony Blair sold deregulation, and why his bad prescription is so hard to kill.
Read more...Link 5/15/15
SEC Official Effectively Thanks Gretchen Morgenson and Mark Maremont for Embarrassing Private Equity into Cleaning Up a Tad
The SEC’s acting director of examinations gave a progress report a year after his predecessor exposed widespread misconduct in private equity. But is the agency goingfar enough?
Read more...“Why Syriza Will Blink”
Anatole Kaletsky has a cognent, forcefully argued new article at the Project Syndicate website, Why Syriza Will Blink, which independently comes to the conclusion we’ve reached, that the winning strategy for the creditors is to keep Greece in the sweatbox and use worsening economic and social conditions in Greece to crush domestic support for Syriza. Kaletsky goes further than we have, arguing that this is the course the Troika is taking, and the new coalition should have anticipated this as a likely strategy, since it’s the same one they used successfully against Cyprus two years ago.
Read more...William J. Astore: The American Military Uncontained, Chaos Spread, Casualties Inflicted, Missions Unaccomplished
An important, sobering description of how US military overreach became institutionalized.
Read more...Elizabeth Warren’s Trade Deal Fears Confirmed: Canada Uses NAFTA to Challenge Volcker Rule
Elizabeth Warren’s concerns about trade deals undermining financial regulations get an unexpected confirmation from Canada.
Read more...Links 5/14/15
Wolf Richter: Why the Heck Is the Trucking Business Slowing Down?
Trucking activity is a long-standing leading indicator of economic activity. It’s been flashing red in recent months.
Read more...Is the Push for Greater European Integration a Mistake?
The assumption among policy elites that more European integration will heal the union’s ills may be misguided.
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