European Union | AEIdeas

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Italy’s faux recovery

Abby McCloskey | April 30, 2013, 9:33 am

Financial markets swooned after Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta and his new cabinet were sworn in on Sunday, but Italy’s troubles are far from over. From the WSJ: Financial markets continued to applaud political progress in Italy Monday, extending a … read more >

Economics, International economy

Desmond Lachman: Cyprus and the European Union

Sofiya Mahdi | April 29, 2013, 10:11 am

The banking crisis in Cyprus has thrown a struggling European Union into deeper economic strife in the past few weeks. AEI Resident Fellow Desmond Lachman spoke to AEIdeas about the nature of the crisis, its implications in Europe, and how … read more >

Economics, International economy

Troika’s bail-in proposals shake depositors’ confidence

Emily Rapp | April 18, 2013, 2:40 pm

Today, the German lower house of parliament passed a €10 billion rescue deal for Cyprus, ushering in a possible resolution to this spring’s financial crisis. However, the Troika’s (EU Commission, IMF, and ECB) negotiation tactics have perhaps irrevocably damaged trust … read more >

Economics, Foreign and Defense Policy, Europe and Russia, International economy

Europe’s Cyprus blunder

Desmond Lachman | March 18, 2013, 9:52 am

European policymakers work in strange and mysterious ways. Over the past year, they bent many rules and threw literally hundreds of billions of Euros at Greece to prevent that country from exiting the Euro. They did so for fear that … read more >

Economics, Foreign and Defense Policy, Europe and Russia

US-EU free trade in the State of the Union

Claude Barfield | February 13, 2013, 11:12 am

Last night in his State of the Union address, President Obama endorsed launching trade talks toward a US-EU free trade agreement. I will write in more detail in the American, but I want to flag a quick, brief reaction here: … read more >

Image Credit: Yanni Koutsomitis (Flickr) (CC BY 2.0)

Foreign and Defense Policy, Europe and Russia

EU gets the prize, NATO gets the snub

Gary Schmitt | December 12, 2012, 8:55 am

On Monday, the Nobel Peace Prize was presented to the European Union, with the claim that the EU was essential for post-World War II reconciliation and “probably the most dramatic example in history to show that war and conflict can … read more >

Economics, International economy

Well on the way to a European lost decade

Desmond Lachman | December 11, 2012, 1:08 pm

At the heart of Europe’s economic troubles is its Euro straitjacket which precludes the countries in the European periphery from devaluing their currencies to boost their exports. read more >

Photo Credit: MPD01605 (Flickr) (CC BY 2.0)

Foreign and Defense Policy, Europe and Russia

The first carbon trade war: Europe backs down

Claude Barfield | November 13, 2012, 4:35 pm

It turns out that $14 billion was just “too much for saving the planet.” Europe caved. read more >

Image credit: Infomatique (Flickr) (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Economics, International economy

Europe’s lost decade?

Desmond Lachman | November 5, 2012, 1:56 pm

One has to pity Europe. Almost three years into its sovereign debt crisis, there are no signs that its crisis is letting up. Indeed, last week, in a remarkable moment of candor, Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, told a regional … read more >

Image Credit: Victor1558 (Flickr) (CC BY 2.0)

Society and Culture

‘Pink quotas’ would do more harm than good in Europe

Elizabeth DeMeo | October 26, 2012, 10:02 am

On Tuesday, the divided executive body of the European Union shelved a proposition to put in place a quota system that would require 40% of board positions at companies across Europe to be held by women, with severe penalties for … read more >

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