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Same game, different rules ?
T+3 Spanish bail-out, emergency rescue , credit-line and we are back to square 1 if Spanish yields are an indicator. Apparently markets are not convinced about the credibility of the fire wall currently put into place ; or are awaiting more clarity and reassurances, something the so-called master plan might ...
Postcard from China
Writing a piece like this after a trip to (a part of) a country is always somewhat difficult. The reason is that you have to be very careful not to extrapolate to the entire country what you have seen in the cities you have just visited. In this particular case, I will try to share with you some thoughts on my recent stay in ...
To peg or not to peg - Safe Haven
Flight to quality, safe haven, uncertainty and capital preservation, all these buzz words lately seem to be the only thing that matter. And it isn't restricted to the usual suspects in the current risk-off environment, being JPY and CHF (reversal of carry trades etc). But before focusing on a fairly new contestant in this game, a ...
Catharsis and the Fischer smile
Catharsis, the emotional purification in Greek drama or the logical conclusion at the end of a play. It seems to me we are nearing such a point in the euro-zone where conflicting parties - now in full collision course in a super game of chicken - will be blessed with catharsis one way or the other. What is at stake ?In previous ...
China, hold or sell?
Het financieel-economisch nieuws wordt nog steeds gedomineerd door 2 parameters: Griekenland (of in het verlengde daarvan de Europese financiële turbulentie) en de vertragende Chinese groei. Deze beide zaken hebben de laatste weken een groter impact op de beurzen dan ander bedrijfsnieuws, zeker nu de kwartaalgebonden ...
POSTCARD from TAIWAN
There’s good news and bad news on my latest trip to Taiwan. The bad news is that I cannot talk about what was probably the most interesting factory visit and management meeting as they had me sign a very strict three-page long Non Disclosure Agreement forbidding me to even mention that I had talked to them, let alone that I ...
Growth pact - France, Chile & Sweden
With the new French winds blowing at the Elysée, the debate on a growth pact gathers momentum: briefly “piano piano” on austerity and public investment providing the growth kicker EMU urgently needs. Also the IMF issued some warnings earlier on that moving too quickly on austerity might in the end even be counterproductive. The ...
"A whale stranded upon the coast of Europe"
A poetic quote coming from Irish political philosopher Edmund Burke referring to Spain. Unfortunately, the quote hasn't lost of its value because the whale has stranded in an economic sense. And it still requires some considerable assistance to find open water again. Although, despite the huge challenges confronting Europe's no4 ...
Post 06/05 reality check - If we only had time
Have we witnessed a kind of decisive paradigm shift in Europe over the weekend ? It might still be too soon to conclude this but in political terms, some important events indeed took place. In order of importance : 1) Greek chaotic election result and not workable in the short term. Already after a couple of hours, leading party ND ...
Krugman en de maakbaarheid van de economie
De openlijke steun van Paul Krugman voor François Hollande is tekenend voor de Amerikaanse topeconoom. Hij schuwt geen duidelijke keuze, en is niet de typische tweehandige econoom (“on the one hand, on the other hand”). Het grote voordeel van de duidelijkheid heeft ook een nadeel. De huidige crisis wordt daardoor al snel een ...
















