Opinion pieces

Germany relishes role of hegemon, but is not able to play the part

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble recently declared that the European Union has “moved sovereignty to the European level” – a startling claim,

Ashoka Mody

Appreciate the yuan depreciation

Since the beginning of this year, the renminbi has been depreciating against the US dollar. That marked a departure from the earlier trend of the Chin

Managing 50 years of Troika debt repayments

Europe faces a delicate long-term balancing act to reconcile the interests of creditors and debtors. History will reward generosity.

Guntram B. Wolff

Tectonic shifts

Europe has just started a long journey of discovery. Banking union amounts to a regime change for European finance. Even as prospects for the first st

Nicolas Véron

The ECB is much too stodgy

The euro fuelled a leveraged bet that went bad. The ECB is best positioned to orchestrate the painful sharing of losses. If the ECB does not reinvent

Ashoka Mody

Taking the mandate of the ECB seriously

The ECB must achieve price stability in the euro area and contribute to the general economic objectives of the Union, if its price stability mandate a

Guntram B. Wolff and Marcel Fratzscher

The ECB’s bridge too far

The line between audacity and hubris is a fine one. Rather than constituting a great success, OMT may well be remembered as an error born of expedienc

Ashoka Mody

France and Germany must both change economic strategy

A more balanced economic strategy in the two countries is crucial to help the peripheral countries solve their own predicaments and ensure the sustain

André Sapir

Un grand pas pour l'Europe, mais le déficit démocratique demeure

Le 18 décembre, les ministres des finances européens ont annoncé un accord sur la mise en place d'un mécanisme de résolution unique (MRU) pour le trai

Nicolas Véron

2014 Financial Odyssey

The European Banking Union matures in 2014, with the ECB assuming its role as single supervisor. This column outlines the transition to the new steady

Guntram B. Wolff and Silvia Merler

Let’s not wait for a saviour

As a despondent year ends, there appear rays of hope. A healing world economy should help economic growth pick up. At home, a new Central government c

Ashoka Mody

The ghost of Deauville

On 19 October 2010, Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy agreed that in future, sovereign bailouts from the European Stability Mechanism would require th

Ashoka Mody

Europe’s Institutional Mismatches Will Create More Turbulence in 2014 than in 2013

2013 has been a remarkably calm year in Europe, arguably the calmest since the onset of financial crisis in 2007. 

Nicolas Véron

Monetary policy cannot solve secular stagnation

What role can quantitative easing play? I am not quite as negative on QE as Olivier Blanchard but certainly agree that it cannot fundamentally solve t

Guntram B. Wolff

Die Nachbarländer in die Energiewende einbinden

Wenn die europäische Dimension der Energiewende nicht im Koalitionsvertrag berücksichtigt wird, wird Deutschland mit einer nur am Ausgleich einheimisc

Georg Zachmann

The ECB’s big moment

Europe’s banking union project has had many doubters since it started to be widely discussed in the spring of 2012. What is not in doubt, however, is

Nicolas Véron