On Thursday, the ECB surprised observers by announcing a new series of four targeted longer-term refinancing operations (TLTRO II) to be started in June 2016. The incentive structure of the programme has changed: on one hand, this TLTRO II could be the first case of lending at negative rates; on the other hand, the link with lending to the real economy might have been weakened.
Read more...Brexit could damage London’s attractiveness as the centre of European banking, as an entry point to the EU and as a global financial hub.
Read more...Mossack Fonseca and its trail of street protests: they are in it up to their thighs, and HSBC’s Stuart Gulliver has “no idea”.
Read more...Approval ratings for Putin remain high despite corruption scandals because they believe no one is as capable of defending them against the US
Read more...What are UK’s options if a majority votes in favour of Brexit this June?
Read more...Brexit would leave the EU an even more impaired regional and geo-political player than now, when it already punches far below its economic weight.
Read more...The inexorable political decline of Angela Merkel as well as her traditional opponents, the Social Democrats, is gathering pace.
Read more...Is Angela Merkel’s “Plan B” remark a Freudian slip, a recognition that like Varoufakis, she’s alienated so many people that she can no longer cinch a deal?
Read more...It’s astonishing to see Germany take active steps to wreck the Eurozone.
Read more...Syriza looks again to have overestimated its negotiating skills and has been outfoxed by Israel.
Read more...A new project from Varoufakis.
Read more...Franco Modigliani foresaw how the ECB and the Eurozone architecture had an anti-growth bias and proposed remedies that were ignored.
Read more...The overview: “They argue that rather than spending time revising rules that have already been agreed, alternatives should be considered to make the guarantee schemes as effective as possible.” Translation: “Time to go back to the drawing board.”
Read more...Some more reasons why Deutsche Bank looks like one to avoid
Read more...Michael Hudson discusses his paper, The IMF Changes Its Rules To Isolate China and Russia, and how jockeying among the big power players is becoming more visible and higher stakes.
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