public debt

Public debt levels are at an all-time high – in Europe the problem is particularly acute. The lessons from the Greek debt crisis seem not to have been learned, as Italy alone carries debt that is three times larger than the European Union’s emergency fund. Some economists now argue such ...

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 ...

The launch of a Sovereign Bond-Backed Security (SBBS) is advocated by EU leaders as the best way to overcome the flaws inherent in the monetary union, which became notably obvious after the euro debt crisis of 2009. The SBBS is supposed to offer European investors new reliable stores of value, ...

Unconventional monetary policies saved many financial institutions in the U.S. and Europe after the financial crisis. However, near-zero to negative interest rates and central banks’ massive debt-purchasing programs, which pumped trillions of dollars and euros into economies, failed to restore growth and have had potent, negative and lasting side-effects. Relaxing ...