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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.
Given the scale of India’s slowing rate of growth and other economic difficulties, there was one and only metric by which the new budget presented on February 28 would and should be assessed. Had this United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government fundamentally repudiated fiscal populism because it believed that such populism was no longer electorally popular? [...]
It is no surprise that the results of the Italian political election have unsettled the markets and stirred fears outside the country about the potentially damaging impact on Europe, the United States, and the global economy. The markets appear to be mostly concerned by the absence of a working majority in the parliament, increasing the [...]
Safe assets—often called information insensitive assets—are those debt securities that do not suffer from financial frictions characteristic of other financial assets. They play a major role in the strategies of institutional investors. But as we have learned recently, they can quickly lose their safety status at times of financial crises. In the past few months, [...]
On February 14, European Commissioner Michel Barnier and Federal Reserve Governor Daniel Tarullo both indicated their agreement to quickly give the Basel III accord binding force over, respectively, European and American banks. This is welcome. But even more important than the speed of adoption is that implementation should stay true to what the accord stipulates. [...]
In the first round of the presidential election in Cyprus on February 17, Nicos Anastasiades, the center right presidential candidate, won 45.5 percent of the vote, setting up a final round against Stavros Malas from the communist AKEL party of the incumbent president, Demetris Christofias. Malas garnered 27 percent of the vote. The new frontrunner [...]
The Irish deal with the European Central Bank (ECB) and other European central banks to relieve the huge Irish debt burden resulting from the bank bailout four years ago has arrived even faster than predicted here. This is good news. The Irish government can now avoid the €3.1 billion promissory note payment due at the [...]
On January 31, the Latvian parliament gave final passage to a law applying for adoption of the euro. The vote was 52 to 40. The Latvian government will now submit an application to the European Union in February, and the European Commission will then prepare a report assessing whether Latvia is ready to join the [...]
Following the electoral earthquake in November 2012, the prospects for immigration reform are looking favorable.1 Republicans are increasingly concerned about alienating America’s biggest and most rapidly growing minority group while Democrats feel obligated to deliver the goods to the Hispanic voters who have been part of a loyal electoral bloc in the two last presidential [...]
Sometimes it is better to do nothing. Currently, that truth applies to US-Russia relations. Since the situation in Russia has changed in the last several months, so must US policy on Russia. The only rational US approach on Russia today is to do as little as possible. As the late Ambassador Max Kampelman wisely taught [...]