Tag Archives: Euro

Brexit

Posted on June 25, 2016 by wcoats

The reality of Brexit unleashes a flood of questions, most of which cannot be answer for quite a while. The near term consequences of the UK’s exit from the European Union will depend on the details of the divorce, which … Continue reading →

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Greece: What should its creditors do now?

Posted on July 8, 2015 by wcoats

Following Sunday’s NO vote in Greece, what ever that might have meant, it is tempting to tell Greece to get lost and be done with them. Aside from the unseemly lack of compassion for our suffering fellow man, the further … Continue reading →

Posted in Banks, Debt, News and politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Printing Money

Posted on April 13, 2013 by wcoats

Isn’t that just printing money?  Here is a quick, and hopefully simple, primer on what central banks do. Central banks print money. They are responsible for issuing a country’s legal tender (banknotes and bank deposits with the central bank) and … Continue reading →

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Cyprus: Bailing in and capital controls

Posted on April 7, 2013 by wcoats

Three European countries with oversized banking sectors have suffered major bank failures. Two of them are in the Euro Zone (Ireland and Cyprus) and one has its own currency (Iceland). Iceland and Cyprus imposed temporary capital controls, while Ireland did … Continue reading →

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The Cyprus Game Changer

Posted on March 27, 2013 by wcoats

Early banks were established by wealthy men that depositors could trust to return their money when they wanted it. Bank owners had unlimited liability for the trust placed in them. Any losses that exceeded what the bank owed its creditors … Continue reading →

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Cyprus and the Euro

Posted on March 23, 2013 by wcoats

Does the Euro need to be supported by closer European fiscal integration? Many countries do just fine without their own currency and no fiscal coordination with their currency’s issuer. Panama has used the U.S. dollar for well over a century … Continue reading →

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Has the ECB provided the missing piece to resolve the EU debt crisis?

Posted on September 10, 2012 by wcoats

On September 6, Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank (ECB), announced that the ECB would engage in unlimited secondary market purchases of government bonds of member countries adhering to the policy conditions agreed to with the IMF and … Continue reading →

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The Hutchinson Lecture at the Universtiy of Delaware

Posted on April 21, 2012 by wcoats

Tuesday (April 17) I spent an enjoyable day in Newark, Delaware as the guest of the Economics Department of the University of Delaware. My afternoon, more technical, lecture to the graduate students and faculty covered my proposal for the reform … Continue reading →

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Saving Greece: Austerity and/or growth

Posted on February 26, 2012 by wcoats

Econ 101: When discussing Greece’s economic problems public officials and the press regularly toss out the need for “austerity” and/or “growth” as if they were clearly defined and understood concepts. I suspect that they mean quite different things to different … Continue reading →

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