 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
In RealTime posts, PIIE senior staff and colleagues discuss the fast-moving economic news, financial developments, and public policy choices confronting the United States and the world.
Despite its remarkable success in promoting US exports, the US Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) is never far from controversy. Earlier this year, its authorization was renewed by Congress, but only after lawmakers overrode a barrage of criticism from the Tea Party and others opposed to government involvement in the economy. The reauthorization was a wise and [...]
Mary Schapiro, the chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has announced that she will step down from her position next month after four years in office. President Barack Obama appointed one of the four other SEC Commissioners, Elisse Walter, to replace her until a more permanent successor is chosen next year. The [...]
Can we have the euro area crisis and its elevated bond yields back, please? In the absence of acute market pressure, euro area leaders like Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy of Spain are sitting on their hands rather than opting for stability and applying for aid from the European Stability Mechanism and European Central Bank (ESM/ECB). [...]
Despite his cultivated image of “Mr. Normal,” President François Hollande of France remains an enigma on the European policy scene. What kind of socialist president will he be in the next five years? At a time when the euro area crisis has gradually forced leaders and policymakers to undertake overdue structural reforms, which have mired [...]