European Union

May 5, 2020

The Problems of Financing Through European Mechanisms

There has been a great deal of debate recently – not just in the media, but also in academia and among economic analysts – about the availability and desirability of various financial instruments to deal with the fallout from the Corona crisis, especially for some of the worst-hit nations such as Spain or Italy.
April 30, 2020

COVID-19: Who to Blame?

Much of the WHO rhetoric on COVID-19 has treated the pandemic as an unavoidable, natural disaster devoid of blame – this is absolutely not the case. The evidence overwhelmingly suggests there are two principal actors at fault, although admittedly to different extents: where the Chinese government is culpable, the WHO is complicit.
April 21, 2020

The Oil Price War

In tandem with the stock market crash, following persisting negative news regarding the coronavirus, oil prices have drastically dropped. The current demand for oil is so low that both consumers and producers are experiencing the lowest prices in decades.
April 15, 2020

Could ‘Lombardy Bonds’ Be the Answer to the Eurozone Debt Puzzle?

At the last Eurogroup meeting, Eurozone finance ministers agreed to set up a ‘Recovery Fund’ to help trigger an economic rebound once the lockdowns are over. But the vexed question of whether some shared ‘European’ debt should be issued has not been solved.
April 11, 2020

Why Do Germany and the Netherlands Oppose Coronabonds?

In recent weeks, the global impact of the coronavirus has brought a huge number of new questions to the fore. For the time being many remain unanswered but, as often happens, in some cases a lack of answers in itself can direct us towards the heart of the problem.