Christine Lagarde
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Question marks over the ECB’s governance
When Sabine Lautenschlaeger became the fourth representative of Germany on the ECB governing bodies to resign on former President Mario Draghi’s watch, the issues of his legacy and the collegiality in the EU’s central bank have come to the fore. Growing doubts over the bank’s stimulus policies combined with ignoring dissenters among the bank’s governors and executive board members bode ill for longer-term effectiveness of this critical Europan institution. New ECB President Christine Lagarde may not yet appreciate the problem.
After the Great Fear: The EU’s Sibiu agenda
EU leaders heaved a sigh of relief after May’s European Parliament elections when the much-feared populist wave failed to rock the boat. Yet at most, they have gained a little time. Judging by the tone of the informal summit held in Sibiu, Romania, the EU’s new leadership will favor old ...
IMF puts itself in a fix as it bends rules to bail out Ukraine
On December 18, 2015, the government of Ukraine announced it had no intention of honoring a $3 billion Eurobond loan owed to Russia that would mature on December 20. Given the cross-default clause written into that bond, under British law, this was a momentous decision. It gave the Kremlin the ...
Yuan’s slow rise could mean trouble for Western economies
At the end of November, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced that from October 2016 the Chinese yuan will be part of the basket of currencies that defines the Special Drawing Right (SDR), the accounting unit the organisation uses to carry out financial operations. The immediate practical effects will be ...
After Fed delay, investors consider Chinese elephant in the room
Financial markets did not react well to the Federal Reserve’s decision in September to keep interest rates stable. Presumably, investors were worried that China’s slowdown is more serious than anticipated, and that the Fed has well-founded concerns about the outlook for the American and European economies. <i>While...
