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Friday, November 22

22nd Nov - Weekender: Best of the Week



Here are the ”best” from my posts of the ending week. Last week’s edition here.


EUROPE
A Schuman compact for the euro area Bruegel
Efforts to turn the crisis into a spur for “an ever closer union” have met with political resistance to the surrender of fiscal sovereignty. If such a union remains elusive, a perpetual muddling ahead risks generating economic and political dysfunction. It may be time to recognize and render more effective the de facto decentralisation in Europe.

2014 draft budget viewsEC

DésillusionThe Economist
French increasingly think Europe is a problem, not a solution.

  GERMANY
Europe’s economic rules: Brussels v BerlinThe Economist
The fuss over Germany’s surplus misses the point.

German Court Won’t Rule This Year on Legality of ECB Bond BuyingWSJ

German growth not low enough to trigger policy changeNordea
Domestic-led third-quarter growth bolsters Germany in showdown over tradeReuters

  EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK
ECB ready to print, Germany ready to screamThe Telegraph
The doves are seizing control of the ECB. They are already laying the ground work for a blitz of Anglo-Saxon QE, whatever the Germans, Dutch, Austrians, and Finns (?) have to say about such wicked Latin conduct.

Deflationary risks rising in the Eurozone; time for LTRO redux?Sober Look

Draghi’s Rate Cut Puts ECB Into Holding Pattern Until Next YearBB
While a majority in a Bloomberg survey say the ECB’s most probable next move is a measure such as long-term loans, 77 percent of those see it happening in the first or second quarter of 2014. Just 9 percent see Draghi taking action in December.

Is the price stability target of the ECB at risk?Money Matters

OECD calls on ECB to buy euro zone assetsReuters
The ECB must consider buying government and corporate bonds to help the euro zone avoid a Japanese-style deflationary spiral, the OECD said on Tuesday.

ECB debate comes full circle back to QE again - but substantial obstacles remainOpen Europe

France’s swan song turns the ECB into a doveTradingFloor
France's awful PMI is the latest item in a string of terrible European macro news pushing the European Central Bank to ease. But as the ECB lacks viable tools, it can only make threats. Enter the test balloon.

Mario Draghi speech “The future of EuropeECB


UNITED STATES
  FEDERAL RESERVE
The Only Two Charts That Matter For The FedZH
Fed now owns a third or 32.47% of all 10 Year equivalents… now monetizing a record 70% of all net US 10 Year equivalent issuance.

Fed Ponders How to Temper Tapering Without Rate IncreaseBB
One of Janet Yellen’s first challenges as chairman will be figuring out how to cushion against a lurch in interest rates when she pares the pace of the central bank’s bond buying.

About That Unemployment Threshold....Tim Duy’s Fed Watch
The issue of the thresholds is a hot topic at the Fed, but there is hesitancy to pull the trigger on the option of changing the threshold.  They are not yet ready to chance signaling a change in the reaction function.  And given that unemployment remains well above the threshold, there is no rush to change the threshold as long as the market believes it is not a trigger.  This seems to be a message Bernanke is sending in this speech.

Desperate to TaperTim Duy’s Fed Watch
Clear evidence of the space we have been in for months.  The Fed wants to taper, and is becoming increasingly nervous they will need to pull the trigger on that option before the data allows.  That means that tapering is not data dependent.  That means the policy deck is stacked with at least one wild card.  And that sounds like a recipe for the kind of volatility the Fed is looking to avoid.


OTHER
OECD Cuts Global Growth Outlook on Emerging-Market SlowdownBB
Global economy recovering at moderate pace but more risks aheadOECD

Goldman's Top Ten 2014 Market ThemesZH

European FI Strategy – The heat is onNordea
To QE or not to QE, the question for the Fed, and soon maybe the ECB…EUR: More easing on the cards for the ECB and curves have turned segmented again. Inflation has turned into a hot topic in the Euro zone and 10yr inflation swap levels look oversold SEK: The heat is on as we head into another uncertain Riksbank meeting in December. DKK: Inflation is record low but we expect the tide to turn. NOK: We have changed our Norges Bank call and now expect the central bank to cut twice next year.


FINNISH
Valtio-opin professori haukkuu hallituksen salakähmäisyyttä EU-asioissaHS
Asiantuntija vertaa Suomen avoimuutta EU-asioiden päätöksenteossa Vatikaaniin

Valtioneuvoston selonteko EU-politiikasta 2013VNK

Saksalaisten pakkomielle inflaation suhteen olisi koomista jos se ei olisi niin vaarallista Tyhmyri
Saksa on tyypillisen epäsolidaarinen

"Pääomakontrollit ovat kuin vahva lääke" TalSa
Taloussanomat tapasi Islannin keskuspankin pääjohtajan Mar Gudmundssonin Ateenassa. Pääjohtaja puhui pääomakontrolleista sekä Islannin pankkikriisin opetuksista Euroopalle.

Jan Hurri: Europäättäjät eivät usko vuosisataisia kriisiläksyjäTalSa
Velkakriisien historian juurta jaksain tuntevat talousprofessorit Carmen Reinhart ja Kenneth Rogoff väittävät tuoreessa tutkimuksessaan, että europäättäjät ovat virheillään pahentaneet ja yhä pahentavat velkakriisiä. Kriisiä ei ole pitkittänyt "eurokriittisten voimien" nousu vaan se, että päättäjät eivät vieläkään ymmärrä kriisin laatua. (CEPR-artikkeli)

Ykkösaamu: Talouden tasapainottumista ei näkyvissäYLE
EU-komissio ei ole vakuuttunut, että Suomi pääsee irti velkavetoisesta taloudenhoidostaan. Studiossa Valtiontalouden tarkastusviraston pääjohtaja Tuomas Pöysti. Sitten läpivalaisuun tapaukset Solidium ja Keva sekä niiden valvonta. Vieraina eduskunnan tarkastusvaliokunnan puheenjohtaja, vihreiden kansanedustaja Tuija Brax ja kokoomuksen kansanedustaja Ben Zyskowicz.

Brysselin kone: EU-tyytymättömyyttä ilmassaYLE
Mitä tiedämme kansalaisten mielipiteistä EU:ssa ja EU:sta? Haastateltavana on toimialajohtaja Juhani Pehkonen TNS Gallupista ja toimittajana Maija Elonheimo