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EUROPE
Will French numbers add up? – Reuters
France outlined a slower roadmap on Wednesday to reduce its chronic deficit to
the EU's treaty limit next year, based on growth assumptions described by an
independent watchdog as risky.
EZ and EU28 government deficit at 3.0% and 3.3%
of GDP – Eurostat
EUROPEAN
CENTRAL BANK
ECB FX intervention, de facto or otherwise – FT
Direct FX intervention
been done it before by the ECB and if, as Rajan suggests, the externalities of
QE and FX intervention are possibly similar while the difficulties of
implementation are not, than you wonder why direct intervention appears to be
so far down Draghi’s list of actions? Presumably the external political cost of
intervention is still much higher than for QE.
Injecting cash to stimulate economy would be
complex for ECB, Hansson says –
Reuters
Quantitative easing
would be operationally complex for the European Central Bank, policymaker Ardo
Hansson said, casting doubt on whether the bank could implement such a plan to
ward off the threat of deflation.
CRISIS
COUNTRIES
Define Austerity: Spanish, Italian And Greek
Debt/GDP Rise To Record Highs –
ZH
Michael Spence: The
Spanish economy is beginning to attract investors’ attention – and not only
because asset prices are depressed in the current climate. While there are huge
problems that must still be overcome, there is also a clear sense on the ground
that the economy has passed a turning point, roughly at the start of this year.
Portugal this morning followed the lead set by Ireland and Greece and issued new debt for the first time since
its bailout in 2011.
Investors couldn’t get
enough of a Portuguese government bond sold Wednesday.
That would have
produced a primary deficit of 16 bln euros or about 8.7% of GDP. However, the
EC also granted Greece extra leeway. It allowed Greece to exclude one-off factors that largely was
support for the banking system to the tune of 10.8% of GDP. Also, transfers
from euro member central banks of their profits from Greek bonds they hold. It
is through these machinations that EC concludes that Greece indeed had a primary surplus in 2013 of 0.8%
of GDP.
More Greek Statistics? Troika Confirms Primary
Surplus – WSJ
Eurostat reported
Wednesday that Greece had a government deficit in 2013 of €23 billion, and spent €7.2 billion
on interest payments. That makes the primary balance—under the definition
widely used by economists and Eurostat itself—a deficit of €16 billion, or 8.7%
of Greece’s gross domestic product.
UNITED STATES
US PMI Drops, Misses
By Most In 8 Months – ZH
New Home Sales
Collapse To 8 Month Lows – ZH
New Home Sales
decline to 384,000 Annual Rate in March – Calculated
Risk
U.S. new home sales: the good, the bad and the ugly – WSJ
APRIL PMI
China Manufacturing
Output and New Orders Contract Once Again – Mish’s
China’s Stocks Fall After Manufacturing Data Signals Contraction – BB
4th Month Of
Contraction As Yuan Weakens To Fresh 16 Months Lows – ZH
China factory activity shrinks for fourth month – Reuters
China Manufacturing Gauge Signals Economic Weakness – BB
EZ PMI Lifts Euro,
Soft CPI Kicks Aussie – Marc
to Market
Euro PMIs stronger
than expected in April – Danske Bank
Growth ahead but
deflation threat increasing – TradingFloor
Euro Factory Surveys
Rise as Price Weakness Persists – BB
German Economy
Strengthens as Industry Survey Beats Estimate – BB
French April Industry
Growth Cools as New Business Stagnates – BB
Chinese factories
stalling as euro zone business picks up – Reuters
Euro zone private
sector on strong footing but still slashing prices – Reuters
OTHER
Grand Central: Housing Recovery, We Hardly Knew
You – WSJ
Hilsenrath’s Take:
Housing Recovery, We Hardly Knew You * Fed Looks Likely to Stick to Policy Path
* China Manufacturing Activity Remains Weak * Euro Zone Growth Accelerates, But
Prices Cut * BOE Grapples With Self-Employment Puzzle
FINNISH
Muualla
vyö alkaa löystyä mutta Suomi kiristää lisää – Jan
Hurri / TalSa
Suuret euromaat Ranska, Italia ja Espanja
aikovat keventää julkisen talouden vyönkiristyksiä. Saksa aloittaa uusia
elvytystoimia alijäämän kasvusta huolimatta. Suomi sen sijaan jatkaa
vyönkiristyksiä. Muut painavat kaasua, Suomi jarrua – muualla talous kasvaa,
Suomessa ei.
Pääekonomisti:
EKP:n on elvytettävä kaikin keinoin – TalSa
Citigroupin pääekonomisti Willem Buiter vaatii
Euroopan keskuspankilta toimia heikon inflaatiokehityksen pysäyttämiseksi. Sen
lisäksi valuuttaunionin rakenteita on ravisteltava oikein kunnolla.
Keskuspankin pitää saada tukea jäsenmaita suoraan, pankkiunionia on
vahvistettava sekä tehtävä velkajärjestelyitä.
"Euroopan
talouden suurin uhka on deflaatio" – Verkkouutiset
Ilmarisen varatoimitusjohtaja Timo Ritakallio
on huolissaan Suomen talouden alamäen jatkumisesta.
Mitä
tapahtuu Portugalin kriisissä ja EU:ssa? – Sirpa
Abdallah / US
Eurooppalainen tilastokikka – Henri
Myllyniemi / US
Nordea:
EKP:llä ei ole aavistustakaan inflaation suunnasta – Verkkouutiset
Eikö
Suomen haukutuin duuni sovi perheelliselle? – Mika Koskinen /
IS
Työtä vuorotta 24/7-malliin. Työmäärään nähden
huono palkka. Paljon matkustamista. Tasavallan haukutuin paikka, eräänlainen
kusitolppien kusitolppa. Ei perheelliselle.
Taidemaalari
Kaj Stenvall vaihtoi ankat Vladimir Putiniin – NYT