Faced with the monstrosity of the global Corona crisis, the editors of the International Economy (TIE) thought it advisable to have the impact, implications, reactions, failures and prospects relating to Europe covered by its decade-long German contributor in a “Letter from Berlin” on “Europe´s Covid-19 Battle” - As it turned out the letter had a surprisingly … [Read more...] about Europe´s Covid-19 Battle
ECB
How Macron Won It All
The French did it again. By recalling Christine Lagarde, who has served as managing director of the International Monetary Fund since 2011, from Washington and throwing her into the race to succeed Mario Draghi as head of the European Central Bank, French President Emanuel Macron effectively won the real power game in the competition for the top European positions after the May … [Read more...] about How Macron Won It All
Europe’s Forever Unfinished Banking Union
The Deutsche-Commerzbank merger fiasco sheds light on how weak Germany’s private banking sector remains a decade after the financial crisis, in a national market dominated by highly competitive customer-oriented savings banks and cooperative banks. On April 25, 2019, both banks announced that their management boards had come to the conclusion that a German government-supported … [Read more...] about Europe’s Forever Unfinished Banking Union
After the bank stress tests, ECB backroom tension lingers
The surprisingly positive outcome of the ECB’s health check for German banks may be something of a reprieve for the strained relations between Germany and the evermore- powerful European Central Bank under its controversial Italian president, Mario Draghi. But for the ECB, the real stress and tests are yet to come for the supervisor tasked with making hard decisions with … [Read more...] about After the bank stress tests, ECB backroom tension lingers
Questionable Legality
The largest bank health check ever undertaken in terms of the number of banks, their overall size, and their geographical reach is keeping thousands of bankers, supervisors, and auditors in overtime this summer in preparation for the launching of the European Central Bank as the eurozone’s lead bank supervisor at the beginning of November. The legality of this most ambitious … [Read more...] about Questionable Legality