ECB bond purchases won’t really help
August 8, 2011 7 Comments
I have discovered a new leading indicator for when the eurozone is going to go into full meltdown mode: my holidays. The good news is I’ve just returned from a holiday that spanned the second half of last week. The bad news is I’m only back for a few hours before flying off again for a whole week. This does not bode well for the euro crisis, but neither does any recent policy making at the EU level. This includes the ECB’s announcement on Sunday that it will intervene actively in the markets through its Securities Markets Programme (SMP), indicating it will purchase significant amounts of Italian and Spanish government debt. This move alone is very unlikely to offer lasting reprieve in the euro crisis.
Megan Greene is the Chief Economist at Maverick Intelligence, with a particular focus on Europe. She is also a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, a columnist with Bloomberg and a senior research fellow at Trinity College Dublin. The opinions expressed here are her own and do not reflect those of any employers. Ms Greene offers a strictly independent voice without a political or investment agenda.
