Daily Archives: March 2, 2015

Greece Deal Shows Hostility between Schäuble and Varoufakis – SPIEGEL ONLINE

March 2, 2015 By in Austerity, Business Administration, Democracy, Euro Crisis, Fiscal Policy, Foreign Policy, Germany, Greece, Growth, People, Politics Tags: , , , , , 2 Comments

This is an insightful article from Spiegel. It’s a good read. Check it out!

via Greece Deal Shows Hostility between Schäuble and Varoufakis – SPIEGEL ONLINE.

Mr. Varoufakis, the new Finance Minister of Greece is by profession a teacher of economics, with limited other experience in life. Unlike most of us, he seems unfamiliar with the basic lesson in life of the ‘new boy on the block’. The new boy soon learns the lesson of ‘fight’ or ‘flight’.

Unfortunately, Mr. Varoufakis was not briefed on these basic cautions in his early meetings with Germany’s Finance Minister, Mr. Schäuble. Now I suggest that Mr. Varoufakis perhaps has an enemy. So it’s really up to Varoufakis to rebuild the relationship. After all, surely Greece still needs Germany’s support?

Thoughts?

Ken Clarke: ‘unsustainable’ debt and deficit will suck UK into low growth trap – Telegraph

March 2, 2015 By in Austerity, Business Administration, Business Strategy, Business Transformation, Central banks, Defense Policy, Euro Crisis, Fiscal Policy, People, Politics, UK Tags: , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

I agree with former UK Chancellor, Ken Clarke, sharing his views in South America and reported in the Telegraph. What about you?

via Ken Clarke: ‘unsustainable’ debt and deficit will suck UK into low growth trap – Telegraph.

I tend to relate more easily to Ken Clarke than current Chancellor, George Osborne, whose argument is often laced more with political dogma than defensible economics.

So I favor a small state but also public investment to create jobs. Most importantly I strongly advocate an industry strategy and a skills improvement plan, along with serious measures to increase exports. There’s also a need for a much wider national risk register, with mitigating actions – it should be published quarterly as part of open government (unless there are national security issues). The number one economic risk is probably the UK banks.

Let me ask two open questions:

  1. Why do you think that the banks are the number 1 risk in the UK?
  2. How should government mitigate the risk of the UK banks?

Thoughts?