Press

"Lenders of last resort": Sino-Russian rivalry in Belarus?

Katinka Barysch
30 November 2011
Belarus Digest
A report [Russia, China and the geopolitics of energy in Central Asia] released by the CER last week illustrates how rapidly China has entered the post-Soviet "backyard" in search of oil and gas resources, particularly in Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan.

Euro finance ministers try to avert crisis

Simon Tilford
29 November 2011
USA Today
Simon Tilford of the CER, says he is "skeptical" over eurobonds. "While some shift on the issue of eurobonds is expected, (it is unlikely) that they will deliver enough," ... He said a failure to find a solution could lead to a series of "worsening bank runs which might prove impossible to get on top of."

Germany at odds with euro partners over crisis resolution

Simon Tilford
29 November 2011
Monsters and Critics
That stance cannot continue, argues Simon Tilford of the CER. 'Germany faces a choice. It can stick to its guns and preside over the currency union, in the process sacrificing much of its post-war investment in an increasingly integrated Europe.

Europa busca contrarreloj la herramienta para desarmar la crisis

Simon Tilford
29 November 2011
El Pais
"Alemania se enfrenta a una disyuntiva. Puede seguir usando sus armas y dominar totalmente el terreno en la eurozona, o puede trabajar para qué exista una relación equilibrada entre los socios europeos que permita salvar la moneda única", afirma Simon Tilford, analista del CER.

Eurozone crisis threatens global economy

Simon Tilford
28 November 2011
The Huffington Post
If European leaders don't agree to take bold economic measures for more fiscal integration, including allowing the European Central Bank to become the lender of last resort, the eurozone could start to unravel, said Simon Tilford of the CER.

Time runs short for Europe to resolve debt crisis

Simon Tilford
27 November 2011
The New York Times
In a recent paper [Why stricter rules threaten the eurozone], Simon Tilford argues that imposing additional rules rather than creating a federal framework to allow the eurozone to commonly transfer or borrow money, as can be done in the USA, will end in disaster.

The eurozone crisis - an opportunity for Britain? Don’t bet on it

24 November 2011
The Telegraph
According to Charles Grant, director of the CER, these measures combined would provide the basis for a workable deal. Regrettably, they don’t add up to more than a hill of beans.

Brussels sees upcoming EU-US summit as 'strategic'

Philip Whyte
24 November 2011
EurActiv
According to Philip Whyte of the CER, the eurozone is in no worse economic position than the US: its public finances are in better shape than the US's and its overall level of private sector debt is actually lower.

Medvedev warns US over missile shield plan

Tomas Valasek
23 November 2011
Financial Times
According to Tomas Valasek of the CER, the new element in Mr Medvedev’s comments is his threat to sabotage the US-Russia arms control process. "Mr Medvedev seems to be taking the debate on missile defence into the strategic realm of US-Russia arms control."

Los británicos defienden a España e Irlanda: alemanes son también culpables de la crisis

Philip Whyte, Simon Tilford
23 November 2011
Invertia
Los expertos del Centre for European Reform (CER), una agrupación británica pro europea, Simon Tilford y Philip Whyte, aseguran en el informe “¿Por qué normas más estrictas ponen en peligro a la UE?” que no toda la culpa de la actual crisis es de los países periféricos, los mal llamados...

Europe's options: Few, and shrinking

Simon Tilford
22 November 2011
The Wall Street Journal
"Europe is staring at a lost decade," says Simon Tilford, of the CER. Years of economic stagnation with persistent fears of sovereign and banking-sector defaults "will have a considerable impact on the broader international economy," he says.

Neo-Calvinists and the euro crisis

Philip Whyte, Simon Tilford
22 November 2011
The New York Times
Paul Krugman says "A very good essay by the CER warn(s) of the consequences of relying on the North European interpretation of the eurozone crisis”, which essentially sees the crisis as a morality tale, pitting those who sinned against those who stuck to the path of virtue.

Angela Merkel: Europe's saviour – or biggest problem?

22 November 2011
The Guardian
Merkel's greatest failing, says Charles Grant, of the pro-European think-tank the CER, is that she's either unwilling or unable to question prevailing German orthodoxies. "Truly great political leaders, real statesmen – they can change the weather," Grant says.

Neo-Calvinists and the euro crisis

Paul Krugman
22 November 2011
The New York Times
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard sends us to a very good essay(pdf) by the Centre for European Reform warning of the consequences of relying on the “North European interpretation” of the eurozone crisis, which essentially sees the crisis as a morality tale, pitting those who sinned against those who stuck to the...

Self-serving myths of Europe's neo-Calvinists

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
21 November 2011
The Daily Telegraph
If you have half an hour, read this paper (pdf) by Philip Whyte and Simon Tilford for the Centre for European Reform. It is a forensic look into the deeper causes of Europe's crisis and why the reactionary policies being imposed on two thirds of the eurozone by Germany's Wolfgang Schauble and the northern neo-Calvinists – with input from 1930s liquidationists at the ECB – will lead to certain disaster. 

Spain - the fifth victim to fall in Europe's arc of depression

Philip Whyte, Simon Tilford
20 November 2011
The Telegraph
Philip Whyte and Simon Tilford argue in a paper for the CER that "the eurozone crisis is as much a tale of excess bank leverage and poor risk management in the core as of excess consumption and wasteful investment in the periphery."

En la crisis de la deuda fija las pautas e impone la austeridad: Alemania manda

Philip Whyte, Simon Tilford
20 November 2011
El Pais
"Los alemanes, con frecuencia, no aprecian lo suficiente cuán desgarradores son los cambios económicos que ellos recetan", dijo Philip Whyte, uno de los principales investigadores del CER, con sede en Londres.

Change course Germany, or risk eurozone collapse

Philip Whyte
18 November 2011
Channel 4 News
Philip Whyte, senior research fellow at the pro-European CER told Channel 4 News: "The ECB has engaged in government bond purchasing, but has signalled its reluctance to do so. The financial markets have never believed the ECB is behind this."

No common bond

Simon Tilford
17 November 2011
United Press International
"The Germans have been able to rely on the French, the Dutch and the Austrians. But if they get dragged into this and their borrowing costs continue to rise, that could influence whether they continue to back Germany and the line taken on the eurozone crisis," said chief economist Simon Tilford at the CER.

Atmosphere tense over confusing stance on Europe

17 November 2011
Financial Times
As Charles Grant of the CER puts it: "The risk is that Cameron will start making impossible demands. If pushed too far, Germany will go for a completely new treaty outside the EU framework. That will trigger a real crisis in the relationship."