“The problem is not the dollar, it’s the peso” By Manuel Solanet, courtesy of El Tribuno, Libertad y Progreso The Argentine rejection of the national currency has profound causes, but also possible solutions. A currency must meet at least three properties: being a medium of exchange, a unit of measurement, and a […]
Tag: currency
Euro won’t become global currency without major reforms
“For the euro there is no shortcut to becoming a dominant currency” By Grégory Claeys and Guntram B. Wolff, courtesy of the Bruegel Institute As an international currency, the euro has always been a distant second to the dollar. The idea of a greater international role for the euro has been floated, but without […]
Why do Argentines save in dollars?
By Libertad y Progreso, courtesy of Ámbito Financiero “Whoever bets on the dollar loses.” This famous phrase was said by former Minister of Economy Lorenzo Sigaut in 1981, to try to convince Argentines to stop saving in dollars. As expected, reality prevailed with an exchange rate escalation. Today the BCRA is […]
COVID-19’s reality shock for external-funding dependent emerging economies
By Alicia García-Herrero and Elina Ribakova, courtesy of the Bruegel Institute COVID-19 is by far the biggest challenge policymakers in emerging economies have had to deal with in recent history. Beyond the potentially large negative impact on these countries’ fiscal accounts, and the related solvency issues, worsening conditions for these countries’ external funding are […]
With radical change, Argentina can turn this crisis to its advantage
“Taking Advantage of the Crisis: Three Steps for the Revolution Argentina Needs” By Federico Fernández, courtesy of Fundacion BASES Let’s be clear, the Argentine economy was already tumbling before we even suspected that a delicious bat soup would quarantine a third of Humanity. But there is also no doubt that the economic situation as […]
Europeans take the Euro for granted
By Joris Melman and Giuseppe Porcaro, courtesy of the Bruegel Institute How can we understand citizens’ attitudes towards the euro and its politics? A previous research project studied narratives of the euro crisis and explored the blame game that marked these years. The study found part of the answer to why it has been so hard […]
Don’t buy the Treasury’s Chinese currency hype – then or now
“US Treasury’s Currency Report on China is a Case Study in Political Manipulation” By Daniel Griswold, courtesy of Mercatus Center The US Treasury’s semi-annual report issued this week on the exchange rate policies of China and other major trading partners is an exercise in intellectual gymnastics. The report reiterates that China was indeed a currency […]
Bitte nicht! Germany still opposes banking union
“Germany Remains Firmly Opposed to Banking Union” By Gordon Kerr, Cavin O’Driscoll and Enrico Colombatto, courtesy of IREF In November, Germany’s Finance Minister Olaf Scholz wrote an article in the Financial Times claiming that he had devised a common European Deposit Insurance Scheme (EDIS)[1] that could be acceptable to both sides of the hitherto […]
“Escape the crisis by growing” is a myth
By Natalia Motyl, courtesy of Ámbito Financiero and Libertad y Progreso Many politicians and professional colleagues declare that to get out of the crisis you have to grow. Which up to a point is obvious. That is why we have to transform the premise “you get out of the crisis by growing” […]
To fight entrenched poverty, Egypt MUST reform
“Why Egypt is not on a path to end its long struggle with poverty” By Mahmoud Farouk, courtesy of Atlas Network In 1979, Fouad Ajami wrote that Egypt finds herself between her “pride and place, between her limited material resources and her unbounded psychological esteem for herself, between her old glory and her current poverty.” […]