Category Archives: PIIGS

Austerity strike paralyses Greece

Posted on February 20, 2013 by

(click here if video is not observable)

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Ireland Eyes Bailout Exit

Posted on January 10, 2013 by

Thank goodness Ireland didn’t cave into German and French pressure to raise their corporate tax rate.  We were emphatic back then they not give in to the Eurocrats (see here). Last week’s Economist gave a nice overview of the “fitter … Continue reading →

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Greece Is The Word….And A Done Deal

Posted on November 26, 2012 by

After the Eurozone’s failure to conclude a Greek deal last week, we posted So the hangup is not over whether there will be a deal, but what type and how much debt relief Greece will be granted by the official … Continue reading →

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Euros Still Debating Technicalities of Greek Debt Relief

Posted on November 20, 2012 by

Amazing how the e-mini S&Ps can trade down over 10 points on a technical delay in the Greek debt deal.  Anybody who has worked on restructurings know these are very difficult issues to hammer out, especially with so many parties … Continue reading →

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Perspective on Greece’s Great Depression

Posted on November 19, 2012 by

Bank of America Merrill Lynch provides an informative chart with perspective on how bad it is in Greece, The Greek recession has been the most severe in the recent history of crisis and compares only to the U.S. Great Depression.  … Continue reading →

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Speaking of the Irish….

Posted on November 15, 2012 by

Not only do we love Irish bands, we  owe much our heritage to the country. We’re also proud our distant relatives (less so with Twitter, however)  are working hard to take one of the eyes out the European PIIGS.   … Continue reading →

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Police protest against austerity in Portugal

Posted on November 7, 2012 by

Normally they are on the other side of the barricades. But hundreds of police officers have gathered in Lisbon to call for the Prime Minister to resign and to condemn next year’s budget, which includes the biggest tax hikes in … Continue reading →

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Portugal’s Bond Swap

Posted on October 3, 2012 by

Interesting swap.  Note Portugal’s 10-year sovereign spread relative to the German bund has come in 423 bps this year.  The 10-year government bond now yields under 9 percent. (click here if video and chart are not observable)

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Europain: Young and Unemployed

Posted on September 4, 2012 by

The following chart from the Washington Post of Europe’s unemployed youth really captures the human suffering of the European debt and banking crisis.   It also illustrates why labor reform needs to be a key component of the structural adjustment in … Continue reading →

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Enter the Draghi (Plan)

Posted on August 7, 2012 by

The only thing new in the “Draghi Plan”, as far as we can see,  is the potential big bazooka #4  — unsterilized (?) purchases of periphery bonds by the  ECB. Still,  though, countries will have to submit to conditionality — … Continue reading →

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