Here are the ending week’s select articles on (mostly) the euro crisis from the ‘big three’.Der Spiegel publishes very "German" articles - to the point and stylish, while The Telegraph is louder. The Economist feels like it is made by people with very fancy educations, but most often lacking in detail and depth - but they have a good nose on what is important, and for the past 20 years their track record is unparalleled - their views turn out to be mostly correct. Warning: reading newspapers and magazines is usually not a good way to get ideas. The whole point of reading these is to know and understand what the other people are thinking.
Have a great weekend,
MoreLiver
THE TELEGRAPH
Debt crisis: As it happened
What's the Greek debt crisis all about? – The Telegraph
Even for the Greek finance minister, Evangelos Venizelos, this week’s €130bn bail-out agreement was “great, painful and complicated”. They are about the only three words everyone involved in the debt crisis agrees on. Despite the breakthrough, the odyssey of the Greek debt crisis is nowhere near a conclusion, so if you’ve lost sight of how it all started, here’s a refresher
ECB's Mario Draghi magic corrupts bond markets – The Telegraph
The European Central Bank's blitz of measures to stave off a credit crunch and shore up EMU states are profoundly distorting debt markets and may ultimately do more harm than good.
Greek debt accord hostage to political passions – The Telegraph
Eurozone leaders have put off the day of reckoning for a few more months but the latest €130bn rescue package for Greece offers no path out of the crisis and is hostage to explosive political passions.
Greece’s unemployment bomb has detonated. After a deceptive calm, the surge in job losses since last summer is shocking even for those who never believed that combined fiscal and monetary contraction could possibly lead to any result other than ruin.
Dallarious and Doolally, the eurozone supertanker sails towards the rocks – The Telegraph
All these eurozone leaders and bankers, they must know, mustn't they, that the game is as good as up and that in signing the latest €130bn Greek bailout cheque, they are only throwing good money after bad?
Bretton Woods uncovered (a scoop, of sorts) – The Telegraph
Students of economic history are in for a treat. An official studying deep in the bowels of the US Treasury library has recently uncovered a prize of truly startling proportions – an 800 page plus transcript of the Bretton Woods conference in July 1944, the meeting of nations which established the foundations of today's international monetary system.
The difficulty of deciding how to invest during a time of financial repression
Faith that private-sector losses on Greek bonds are a one-off is hard to sustain
High-frequency trading: The fast and the furious – The Economist
High-frequency trading seems scary, but what does the evidence show?
Charlemagne: Too long an illness – The Economist
Some detect recovery in the euro zone. But if leaders make mistakes there may be a relapse
Lost economic time: The Proust index – The Economist
Advanced economies have gone backwards by a decade as a result of the crisis
Oil markets: High drama – The Economist
Iranian threats are only one of many scares facing oil markets
* * *
Special Report: Financial Innovation
Such seething brains, such shaping fantasies – The Economist
Innovation is not the problem with finance. It’s what comes later that matters
Playing with fire – The Economist
Financial innovation can do a lot of good, says Andrew Palmer. It is its tendency to excess that must be curbed
The little guy – The Economist
What do small investors need more: choice or protection?
Exchange-traded funds: From vanilla to rocky road – The Economist
The Darwinian evolution of exchange-traded funds
Financial infrastructure: Of plumbing and promises – The Economist
The back office moves centre stage
On the side of the angels – The Economist
New ways of lending to small businesses
Collateral: Safety first – The Economist
Innovative ways of making lenders feel more secure
DER SPIEGEL
Merkel Bets Austerity Will Result in Re-Election – Spiegel
German voters value austerity. That, at least, is what Chancellor Angela Merkel is betting on as she embarks on a new package of savings measures aimed at balancing the budget in two years. She wants to show the rest of Europe how it's done -- and get re-elected in the process.
Will the new Greek bailout be enough to save the country from default? The ratings agency Fitch doesn't think so: It downgraded Athens on Wednesday, saying a bankruptcy was "highly likely." German commentators also feel Greece isn't out of the woods yet.
Ahead of a meeting of G-20 finance ministers in Mexico City, Germany remains adamant in its opposition to an expansion of the permanent euro rescue fund. The IMF and European Commission are concerned that the current size of the European Stability Mechanism won't be enough to quiet markets.
With its massive austerity measures, Portugal has become the poster child of the troika of the EU, ECB and IMF. But the country is still stuck in a deep recession and it is unclear how it will return to growth. It may need to rely on European loans for years to come.
Following marathon talks in Brussels, euro-zone finance ministers have agreed upon a second rescue package for Greece, worth 130 billion euros. The deal saves Athens from having to default in March. As part of the agreement, the private sector will take a 53.5 percent haircut on its holdings of Greek debt.