Tag: Europe

Homeownership in Europe: strongest economies have lowest rates

The evidence is pretty clear that modern, industrialized countries do not need high homeownership rates to have vigorous economies.

Euro area unemployment rises to 10.9%, in another sign of misguided policies

It’s been like watching a slow-motion — and entirely preventable — train wreck: extreme austerity measures aren’t leading Europe to prosperity but driving the continent’s economy into the ground. This has seemed pretty obvious for a long time, but European policy makers have seemed somehow blind to the problem.

Armstrong economist: The U.S. is not Greece

Today, the Savannah Morning News published the second column by Nicholas Mangee, a new assistant professor of economics at Armstrong Atlantic State University: How the U.S. is not Greece I’m a fan of good information and reasonable discussion, so I’m…

IMF director wants more aggressive European policies to stem debt crisis, raises fears of depression

The opening lines from the Bloomberg piece Lagarde Urges Larger European Rescue Fund, Recommends Eurobonds pretty much say it all: International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde urged European policy makers to increase their bailout fund and share fiscal risks,…

WSJ documentary: Europe at the Brink

I’ve written a number of times about Europe’s sovereign debt crisis. Here’s an excellent — if overly dramatic — 23-minute video from the WSJ that gives great background and discusses the ways in which the EU, the Eurozone, the ECB, and others have allowed the crisis to fester:

A few links on Europe: How far can the can be kicked down the road?

I’m not heartened by last week’s agreement among Eurozone countries to commit to stricter austerity packages. At best, things are going to get really, really messy as countries continue to cut budgets, as growth slows, as a variety of treaties…

The latest from Europe — little clarity on Eurozone fate

Well, I have to say that I’m not heartened by the news from the summit in Europe today. The European Central Bank has not made the bold moves that seem required, and the political brinksmanship between Europe’s wealthiest countries and…

Morning reading on Europe: glass half full? or half empty?

Sorry to make the title so simplistic, but it really does feel like the Eurozone could go one of two ways after the last couple of days. The European Central Bank signaled that it might be more willing to be…

Will it be unlucky 13 for the euro?

The euro was adopted on January 1st, 1999, so the currency is about to turn 13. I’m not a conspiracy theorist, or a numerologist, or a triskaidekaphobe. But 13 might turn out to be a very unlucky number. I’ve written…

How much would Georgia be hurt by a European recession?

It now seems almost a given that, even if the U.S. technically avoids a recession, we’ll be hurt by the slowdown in Europe related to the continent’s debt crisis. That crisis is nowhere near over. From Calculated Risk yesterday, State…