It is just as well that Simon Johnson didn’t read this Sunday’s Irish newspapers, since they would have spoiled his weekend.
He also calls for more coordination within the Eurozone. After what happened in September so should we all.
It is just as well that Simon Johnson didn’t read this Sunday’s Irish newspapers, since they would have spoiled his weekend.
He also calls for more coordination within the Eurozone. After what happened in September so should we all.
3 replies on “Simon Johnson doesn’t like the three letter word”
But what would that “coordination” look like? We have tolerated, nay promoted the notion of European Commissioners doing double duty as national champions. Any attempt to coordinate via the commission usually ends up being a discussion about how the coordinated policy oddly suits the country the commissioner comes from very well.
If coordination of economic policy had been around pre-crash, Ireland would look very different because it would have had to accede to European demands for harmonised tax policy. Easy to call the bubble a bad thing now but even nine months ago the notion that the boom was anything other than net positive was a fringe theory of the McWilliams School of Heresy and Naysaying.
If there had been more coordination pre-crash, McCreevy might have run a tighter fiscal policy, like Brussels said he should have. If there had been coordination in September we would not have put the financial stability of the state at risk by guaranteeing the banks in the way that was done. But any roads, whether it is a good idea or not, greater coordination is surely coming, on fiscal policy, on financial regulation, probably on a bunch of other stuff too.
Now now – Simon is an outsider – what does he know. And this could be irresponsible blogging.
No, the CDS spreads are wrong, as is the bond spread. The 2b plan will work. The government are in control…
Or maybe not…. 🙁