After a hard day of work ( ), and before a wonderful dinner with friends in the beautiful (and formerly Venetian) harbor of Chania, Crete, Greece, I shortly repeated what I said at the Greek Public Policy Forum that morning. … Continue reading →
So Spain is expected to ask for a bail-out, and official requests to do so are increasing at the (anonymous) European level. Sure. And after that, after Spain will have accepted, Italy will be asked to ask too. Indeed, Mr. Monti’s … Continue reading →
Domani si parte per Creta: al Greek Public Policy Forum a parlare di Europa, crisi, soluzioni con tanti colleghi, economisti e non, cercherò di scrivervene come in un diario. Ecco il programma: Tomorrow we head to Crete for the Greek … Continue reading →
One should read with keen attention the word pronounced by Mr. Barroso, the European Commission (EC) President, yesterday for the (EU) State of the Union. They contain many interesting suggestions for the way ahead. Being far away from the Bruxelles’ day to … Continue reading →
Just a few days ago, Mr. Draghi, the ECB Chairman, sent a statement to the German newspaper the Zeit. In it he mentioned his agreement on a European Banking Authority. He said, “For financial policies, there need to be powers … Continue reading →
But the key question is what Mr. Draghi proposes to do if countries fail to meet their bailout commitments, as Greece has done consistently and Italy did last year when it backed off promised reforms after the ECB started buying … Continue reading →
“If an agent is hired by a principal to work until a particular task is completed, then by completing the task the agent is putting himself out of a job. This phenomenon may be particularly important in politics. It is … Continue reading →
There is increasingly growing concern of mutual distrust between Italian and Germans (should I say Germans and Italians?) leaking finally in the press since Italian Prime Minister Monti mentioned it. It was about time the issue came to the forefront … Continue reading →
Featuring: the bystanders and movie shooters: the European politicians the small buffalo: Greece and the likes the Buffalo herd: the Europeans the lions: your call, I have my opinion the alligator: a European Commissioner passing by. Enjoy till the end. It’s … Continue reading →
There are 27 countries in the European Union. Think of them as the 27 dwarves. Industrious, work-alcoholic, their backs bent at work in the dark caves of the mines, interested only in diamonds and little else. Some are more lazy … Continue reading →