We are into political economy territory bigtime now, and I don’t think economists can ignore the constraints that this may impose going forward.
So it would be wrong not to have a thread on the latest opinion poll, which shows Sinn Féin leap-frogging Fianna Fáil into third place. Pretty predictable really. Presumably the boffins from Brussels and Frankfurt have factored this sort of thing into their calculations?
I have a piece over at the fantastic Eurointelligence website which is aimed at a foreign audience. It is available here.
Update: there seems to have been a Krugman-effect which has brought the eurointelligence site down temporarily. Until normal service is resumed, the article can be accessed here.
Barry Eichengreen has a magnificent, angry piece about what happened last weekend in this morning’s Handelsblatt. With Barry’s permission, I am posting the English translation in full below.
What will have to happen before the powers that be decide that the strategy of making Ireland fall on its sword in order to prevent contagion isn’t working?
It appears that we can elect any kind of government we want, so long as it is black.
As Jacques Chirac might say, il a manqué une bonne occasion de se taire.