Spain

Monti lashes out at Germany ahead of summit – FT.com

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Monti lashes out at Germany ahead of summit By Guy Dinmore and Giulia Segreti in Rome and Peter Spiegel in Brussels ©Reuters Mario Monti has set the stage for a tough fight with Germany at the EU summit this week, insisting that he will continue to push Italy’s proposal to use eurozone bailout funds in an attempt to stabilise financial markets. Italy’s technocratic prime minister’s frustration with Germany surfaced in a combative speech to parliament, saying he would not go to Brussels to “rubber-stamp” pre-written documents and was ready to extend the two-day summit until Sunday night if needed to … Read more

”s Summer not Fall.

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Everyone is nervous about Europe.  Me too.  I have no way of knowing how much of this is already priced in the market.  You’d have to say a lot based on the violent reaction in the oil patch, some European markets but  I don’t see any positive outcome from this weekend vote in Greece.  If they vote to  keep the austerity demands in place, brief rally and the market will soon say the economy is just going to at best muddle along and at worse, be right back at the  bread line. On the other hand if they abandon austerity, … Read more

‘s too expensive to leave

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I’ve been struggling with a metaphor to describe the state of affairs in Europe.  I’ve got it now.  It’s a bad marriage .  All parties now realize they’d be better off ending it except they can’t afford the divorce.  At some point, my guess is that Germany answers the question, “Why are euro divorces so expensive?  Because they’re worth it.” or do they just learn to live together and make the best of it.  I don’t know the German psyche well enough to answer that one.  Perhaps one of our readers will hazard a guess?

Soros says Europe has three months to avoid catastrophe

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I don’t pretend to know what’s going to happen but I’ve said many times, the world would be much better off without the euro.  For reasons beyond my comprehension, the Europeans seem hell bent on keeping it.  Perhaps this speech from George Soros will make it clearer to you. Remarks at the Festival of Economics, Trento Italy June 2nd  

Spain’s Banking Rescue Should Become Example for Europe – Bloomberg

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Spain’s Banking Rescue Should Become Example for Europe   Europe’s leaders can’t save their currency union without figuring out a way to salvage the region’s banks. Spain is a perfect place to start.Perhaps no country better illustrates the mutually reinforcing links among the euro area’s banking, sovereign-debt and economic crises than Spain. Its banks are largely paralyzed amid concerns about heavy losses on real estate loans that, by various estimates, could require as much as 120 billion euros $150 billion in fresh capital to offset. Tight bank credit has in turn deepened the country’s economic slump, increasing banks’ potential losses … Read more

France Said to Seek Faster Start to EU Iran Oil Embargo

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Oil markets see a bit of a boost from France’s push toward cutting the grace period before implementing a ban on Iranian crude in half, breaking a 4 day loosing streak. Jan. 17 (Bloomberg) — France is pushing for faster enforcement of the European Union’s proposed ban on oil imports from Iran, two officials with knowledge of the matter said. France wants the embargo to be delayed by no more than three months to allow nations including Greece, Italy and Spain to find alternative supplies, according to a French government official, who declined to be identified, citing state rules. While … Read more