A mullet rather than a haircut?

The EU avoided a potential fiscal meltdown in the tiny island nation of Cyprus that might have triggered a cascade across Europe in the debt crisis. Instead of giving all depositors a “haircut,” the new plan leaves intact the insured deposits of €100K or less — but everyone else gets the haircut up front: Cyprus secured [...]

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The Russian haircut?

The tiny island of Cyprus has become a flashpoint in the years-long struggle to resolve the Western debt crisis, but it may be more of a pawn in a power struggle, too.  Cypriots have reacted in outrage over the terms of the bailout offered by the EU, which would confiscate a significant percentage of bank [...]

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First time tragedy, second time farce.

That depends on whether the EU had been on a course for anything but disaster prior to this week’s elections in Italy, one of the flashpoints of the European debt crisis.  Mario Monti had tried to impose spending cuts and debt discipline in his government, and it looked as if the EU had headed off [...]

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"Promises must be kept."

“Can the Euro zone learn any lessons from the days of early capitalism?”asks Der Spiegel in report on the latest from the EU’s search for an escape from their debt crisis.  It depends on the teacher, and the lesson drawn.  In this case, the EU may cast its eyes back more than 200 years and [...]

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Crisis averted?

Two potential catastrophes hung over the global economy as the end of the year approached.  The fiscal cliff in the US could end up killing consumer demand, which would put both the US and the West on a fast track to recession.  The debt crisis in Greece, however, could have kicked out the underpinnings of [...]

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