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Saturday, May 31

31st May - W/E: Best of the Week



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


EUROPE
Crisis of the EurocratsKrugman / NYT
The bitter irony here is that Europe’s elite isn’t actually technocratic. The creation of the euro was about politics and ideology, not a response to careful economic analysis…the European elite’s habit of disguising ideology as expertise, of pretending that what it wants to do is what must be done, has created a deficit of legitimacy.

European Green LanternsKrugman / NYT
Sitting in a room listening to EU officials reacting to the European Parliament elections — and it seems to me that they’re deep in denial.

  ELECTIONS
We Ought To Be EU-SkepticSpiegel
In the run-up to the European election, we ought to be more skeptical of the EU. The union's fundamental design flaws could lead to its disintegration. An essay by former German President Roman Herzog

EU leaders cannot simply ignore the populist howlFT
Gideon Rachman:  The argument that the protest vote is too weak and incoherent to merit a response is flawed. If the politicians do not return powers to nation states, they will deserve everything they get at the next elections.

It’s not the end of the world… - Place du Luxembourg

  CRISIS COUNTRIES
Should Spain Leave The Eurozone? - Econmatters

The Pain In Spain Is Mainly Europe’s Bane – WSJ
Spain’s economy will struggle to hit escape velocity. Indeed, there are worrying signs the first quarter represented a high point–however underwhelming in the first place–for the euro zone more generally.

Drop in Italian, Spanish inflation feeds euro zone deflation worriesReuters
Annual consumer inflation slowed in Italy and Spain in May, heightening concerns about deflation risk in the euro zone as the bloc's central bank gears up for an expected growth-boosting shift in monetary policy next week.

  EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK
Draghi’s Drive for Asset-Backed Action Rouses Academic SkepticsBB

ECB 3: Expectations of easing but ECB will surprise the marketsDanske Bank
ECB 5: The end of ECB’s easing cycle?Danske Bank

Implications of negative rates - the Danish experiencesDanske Bank
Complete the sentence: Mario Draghi is...? Saxo TV
ECB obsessed with the EUR strength, missing everything else.

At ECB Conference, Krugman Attacks Inflation TargetWSJ
Krugman gives Draghi some advice FT
It only took a few hours for Mario Draghi to join the list of names at Sintra saying no to Prof Krugman’s calls for a higher inflation target.

ECB’s three-pronged strategy: a trident or triage?TradingFloor
The consensus overwhelmingly expects the European Central Bank to introduce drastic monetary easing on June 6. This requires a mix of policy tools, as single isolated measures would not work. Getting the mix right and satisfying expectations could prove difficult.

European Bonds Front Running ECB Setup for DisappointmentEconmatters

ECB and BoE plan to revive EU securitization, boost investmentReuters
The ECB and the BoE set out proposals on Friday to resurrect the European Union's market for asset-backed securities and help the flow of credit to smaller businesses.

UNITED STATES
Staging the QE exitSober Look
Fed officials are hinting that the rate hike could take place before the Fed ends the policy of reinvesting securities that pay down or mature… Fed officials are afraid that if the balance sheet begins to naturally decline, the markets will interpret this as additional tightening.

ASIA
Chinese QE turns American?FT
China are already the kings of QE. The nature of their QE may be changing.

OTHER
ECB, BOJ Fighting a Zero Sum BattleWSJ
Maybe now that the Bank of Japan’s chiefs have decided it will hold off pressing the policy levers during the rest of this year, it could be the ECB’s turn to play win the zero sum game for a change.

Here Come The BilderbergsZH
The Complete 2014 Cast And Host Nation Breakdown

FINNISH
Tutkimus: Suomi on Pohjoismaiden rupusakkiaTalSa
Pohjoismaat jakautuvat yhä selvemmin kolmeen kastiin, ja Suomi on näistä kasteista kehnoimmassa, Elinkeinoelämän tutkimuslaitoksen (Etla) toimitusjohtaja Vesa Vihriälä summaa pohjoismaista hyvinvointimallia koskevan tutkimuksen viestejä.

Suuren euromaan poliitikoille ei Bryssel ole kiinnostava Tyhmyri
– suuren ja pienen maan eroista

Eurokraattien kriisiJuhani Huopainen / US

"Hitler kuulee" eli mitä EKP voi tehdäJuhani Huopainen / US
myös Youtube

Euron aiheuttama hyvinvointitappioRoger Wessman

Kovaa kritiikkiä: Suomen talous on markka-ajaltaTalSa
Suomen talouden rakenteet ovat vanhanaikaisia ja Suomi sopii heikosti eurojärjestelmään. Näin suomii sijoituspalveluyhtiön päästrategi.

EUROVAALIT
Näkökulma: Olisiko Euroopan syytä herätä?YLE
Eurovaalitulos Ranskassa ja Britanniassa on merkki rajuista muutoksista eurooppalaisessa poliittisessa elämässä. Kahden keskeisen eurooppalaisen maan poliittisen kartan muuttuminen täydellisesti on oire syvistä ongelmista demokratiassa. Niin kutsutun poliittisen eliitin on nyt syytä aloittaa itsetutkiskelu

Eurooppaan muutosta vaikka väkisinTyhmyri
Persut palaavat todellisuuteen mutta Ranskan tulos ilahduttava

EU-eliitti pyyhkii kriitikilläRisto Pennanen / TalSa
Edes historiallisen suuri protesti ei saa euroeliittiä pohtimaan, miksi kansa on vihainen.

Suomen Sosialidemokraattinen Puolue ja vaalimenestysTyhmyri
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