Europe's leaders have grasped the nettle. Faced with a spiralling bond crisis in Italy and Spain and the greatest threat to the EU project for 50 years, they have ripped up their bail-out strategy and taken a large stride towards a "liability union". 21 Jul 2011 French President Nicolas Sarkozy has swooped into Berlin to secure a “clear, clean and precise response” from Chancellor Angela Merkel to the dramatic crisis engulfing the eurozone. He is unlikely to get one. 20 Jul 2011 If Europe's leaders fail to agree on some form of debt pooling and shared fiscal destiny at Thursday's emergency summit, they risk a full-fledged run on South Europe's bond markets and a disorderly collapse of monetary union. 19 Jul 2011 Portugal's new leader Pedro Passos Coelho has told the nation to brace for further austerity measures after his government discovered a 'colossal' €2bn hole in the public accounts left by the outgoing Socialists. 18 Jul 2011 The eurozone can in theory still be saved, if two sets of conditions are fulfilled; if the leaders of Germany, Austria, Finland, and the Netherlands accept fiscal union and a common pooling of debt, and can persuade their parliaments and courts to ratify such a revolution. 17 Jul 2011 As the twin pillars of international monetary system threaten to come tumbling down in unison, gold has reclaimed its ancient status as the anchor of stability. The spot price surged to an all-time high of $1,594 an ounce in London, lifting silver to $39 in its train. 14 Jul 2011 Monetary experts are increasingly disturbed by the pace of money supply contraction in Italy and most recently France, fearing that it could prove a leading edge of a sharp economic slowdown over the winter. 14 Jul 2011 The European Union has reached "crunch time" in the words of Greek premier George Papandreou. Its leaders can longer allow themselves the luxury of "indecisiveness, errors and tactical politics". 12 Jul 2011 The financial authorities face systemic contagion unless they take immediate and dramatic action. 12 Jul 2011 Italian and Spanish bond yields soared to post-EMU highs in a fresh day of credit turmoil after Germany blocked any meaningful measures to defuse the crisis. 11 Jul 2011 The European Central Bank has raised interest rates a quarter point to 1.5pc to curb inflation and signalled more to come, despite faltering growth in southern Europe and acute stress in peripheral bond markets. 07 Jul 2011 A chorus of policy-makers from Europe and across the world denounced Moody's downgrade of Portuguese debt as of financial vandalism, accusing the "Anglo-Saxon" rating agencies of driving states into bankruptcy. 06 Jul 2011 Whether or not Europe's monetary union survives in its current form, shrinks to a Carolingian core, or shatters, depends as much on abstruse legal arguments put forward on Tuesday in Germany's constitutional court as it does on the parallel drama unfolding on Greek streets. 05 Jul 2011 A few weeks before the tsunami struck Fukushima’s uranium reactors and shattered public faith in nuclear power, China revealed that it was launching a rival technology to build a safer, cleaner, and ultimately cheaper network of reactors based on thorium. 20 Mar 2011 Japan is in imminent danger of a credit-crunch with global implications unless the authorities stabilise Tokyo's stockmarket and take overwhelming action to stop the yen exploding to record levels. 17 Mar 2011 As catastrophe at home prompts Japan to repatriate chunks of its vast wealth, it is pulling the rug from under stock and bond markets thousands of miles away. 15 Mar 2011 The total exposure of foreign banks to the struggling quartet of Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain tops $2.5 trillion (£1.6 trillion) once all forms or risk are included, according to the latest data from the BIS. 14 Mar 2011 The Iron Chancellor of Germany could not have been clearer. “Whoever wants credit must fulfill our conditions“. 13 Mar 2011 Moody's has reignited the storm of controversy over the power of rating agencies after it downgraded Spain, and warned that the bank clean-up will cost vastly more that claimed. 10 Mar 2011 The Government's austerity policies have restored investor confidence in UK public finances and may have averted a gilts crisis, according Britain's top debt manager. 10 Mar 2011 Political paralysis in Brussels and monetary tightening by the European Central Bank has set off a fresh spasm of the eurozone bond crisis, pushing spreads on Portuguese, Irish and Greek bonds to post-EMU records. 09 Mar 2011 Those exhorting OPEC to boost output should be careful what they wish for, writes Ambrose Evans-Pritchard. Playing the cartel card risks exposing the fragility of the global energy system. 08 Mar 2011 The European Central Bank has once again risen to the bait. Faced with an oil supply shock that deflates incomes, it plans to tighten the vice yet further with a knee-jerk rate rise in April. 07 Mar 2011 The European Central Bank has surprised markets by signalling a rate rise as soon as next month, brushing aside warnings that this may compound damage from the oil shock and push EMU debtor states deeper into crisis. 04 Mar 2011 Fears of sectarian uprisings in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia have set off the first serious wave of investor flight from the Gulf. 02 Mar 2011
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard is International Business Editor of The Daily Telegraph. He has covered world politics and economics for 30 years, based in Europe, the US, and Latin America. He joined the Telegraph in 1991, serving as Washington correspondent and later Europe correspondent in Brussels.
LATEST FROM AMBROSE EVANS-PRITCHARD
Europe steps up to the plate
Franco-German axis loses wheels
Only Germany can save EMU
Portugal discovers 'colossal' budget hole
A modest proposal for eurozone break-up
Return of the Gold Standard as world order unravels
Italy money supply plunge flashes red signals
Europe steps back from the abyss, for a day
Italy and Spain must pray for a miracle
German 'Nein' leaves Italy in turmoil
ECB tightens noose on Southern Europe
Europe declares war on rating agencies
Germany's judges hold the euro's fate in their hands
Safe nuclear does exist, and China is leading the way with thorium
Evans-Pritchard: Japan risks crunch
Twin threats of Japan and Gulf stalk global recovery
Banks have £1,600bn exposure to EU sick club
Total German triumph as EU minnows subjugated
Spain downgrade sparks storm over ratings
'UK austerity plan averted gilts crisis'
EU paralysis drives fresh bond rout
Oil markets brace for Saudi 'rage'
Flat-Earth ECB misreads oil spike again, and kicks Spain in the teeth
European Central Bank prepares rate rise as global tide turns
Saudi contagion triggers Gulf rout
Sunday, 24 July 2011
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