ECB Monthly Bulletin

The new bulletin is out, with the following special articles:

  • 09/05/2013 – Publication: Article, Monthly Bulletin, May 2013, pp 71-83, An assessment of Eurosystem staff macroeconomic projections, 423 kb, en
  • 09/05/2013 – Publication: Article, Monthly Bulletin, May 2013, pp 85-101, Country adjustment in the euro area: where do we stand?, 326 kb, en
  • 09/05/2013 – Publication: Article, Monthly Bulletin, May 2013, pp 103-114, Target balances and monetary policy operations, 631 kb, en

4 replies on “ECB Monthly Bulletin”

“An assessment of Eurosystem staff macroeconomic projections”

Can probably be summarised as, “We’ve all got jobs and quite a few of you out there won’t have in the forseeable future.”

Just reading “Troika urges swift action to deal with unemployment” in the IT – we’ll get the jobs fairy to wave a wand around and sure, it’ll be fine.
They’re also still mentioning opening up of competition in sheltered sectors like legal services – which will of course never happen and there’s no ‘punishment’ being offered by the Troika for it not happening.

Meanwhile, the Greek youth unemployment rate is now at 64.2% in February, up from 59.3% a month earlier. I bet nobody has asked the question, “So how many hundreds (or more) % increase has there been in the use of young unpaid interns in Greece (and many other European countries, including Ireland) since the crisis began?” – I doubt it gets measured as nobody can be doing with showing how employers are taking advantage of the situation to get free labour.

…..and the Spanish are adjusting by moving to Germany in record numbers last year – the record 2012 figure likely to be exceeded in the first half of 2013.

Meanwhile, Portugese unemployment reported yesterday as hitting another record high.

TGIF. Back in Ireland next week for the Amlin cup final. Will take a sentiment reading while I’m there.

The paper on TARGET 2 balances is of particular interest in that it spells out the present rather fraught situation of the euro in some considerable and definitive detail as reflected by said balances.

The closing paragraph even comes up with a new – and better – phrase to describe the love/hate relationship between sovereigns and their banks.

“TARGET balances do not represent any financial risk beyond that inherent in the Eurosystem operations against the background of a cohesive monetary union. The way to obtain a durable reduction in the reliance of banking systems on central bank liquidity and thereby in TARGET balances is to address the root causes of the crisis. This means improving fiscal and economic
policies, particularly in the countries under strain; re-establishing trust in the banking systems and overcoming financial market segmentation in the euro area; and strengthening the institutional foundations of EMU. In particular, an integrated bank supervision and resolution scheme at the euro area level would contribute to breaking the adverse link between sovereigns and banks, as well as to overcoming market segmentation along national borders.”

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