Special Government Bonds and the ECB

The ECB recently issued this opinion on the proposal by Cyprus to issue ‘special’ government bonds that may be used as collateral to obtain liquidity from the ECB.

A New Twist in Latvian Banking Policy

This FT article reports an interesting development in Latvian policy, where the interplay with foreign-owned banks and currency policy are important features.

Fixing the Banking System

This article discusses lessons from the nationalisation of Swedish banks in the early 1990s.

New Central Bank Bulletin

The October bulletin is out.   The comment article provides an interesting and wide-ranging assessment of the current state of the Irish economy and the set of policy challenges.

VF on the Wall Street Near-Death Experience

This article from the November issue of Vanity Fair provides a very detailed account of last Autumn’s crisis on Wall Street.