The European Central Bank is working on an instrument to keep sovereign yields closely aligned across the euro area. A spread control device would be a courageous step – but it’s in the wrong direction. The plan is unclear, dangerous and unnecessary. The ECB will find it impossible to realise the expectations it has now raised. The hidden threat is that the ECB could provoke the very sovereign debt crisis that the new instrument seeks to prevent.
How the European Stability Mechanism can help Italy By Ignazio Angeloni There is a solid and relatively trouble-free way to help Italy and overcome the ECB’s problem of ‘fragmentation’, which is becoming a major challenge for financial markets. Italy should turn to the European Stability Mechanism, the EU’s financial support scheme.
MEETINGS Breakfast briefing with Philip Short on Vladimir Putin Wednesday 6 July, Roundtable Philip Short, former BBC foreign correspondent, discusses his biography of Russian President Vladimir Putin, how the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 helped to shape his world view and the impact this has had on security and economic stability in Europe and beyond.
ON DEMAND Quantitative tightening: how fast, how far? Neil Williams, OMFIF’s chief economist, speaks with Taylor Pearce, OMFIF economist, in a lightning-round podcast on quantitative easing. They discuss why central banks are so slow to wind down their balance sheets and what the benefits of running quantitative tightening would be.
Data: Towards a new age of economic enlightenment As regulators and policy-makers work to balance protection and innovation in their evolving frameworks, this landmark report explores the use of data and its potentially transformative impact on developments in the global economy, financial services, the business community and society as a whole.
