Readers Question. You said that if Greece leaves the Euro, the Drachma will depreciate. Why will this happen? If Greece did leave the Euro, then the currency which replaced the Euro, would definitely fall in value. Greeks would soon see the price of imports increase. The foreign price of Greek exports would fall. If Greece …
Readers Question: What have been the drivers of the mortgage default rate in the 2008 recession compared to the late 1980s/ 1990s? Despite the depth of the recession in 2008, the mortgage default rate in the UK has been lower in the current recession than in the early 1990s. The peak for home repossessions occurred …
“Where and who creates the money?” Looks like Newton’s “Law of conservation of energy: Energy never be created nor destroyed”. To be more clear, I will explain with 2 examples. First case : I work in a big retail company in USA and get paid bi-weekly. How my company is getting money? Retail company makes …
Readers Question: What are the factors that influence the fixing of a minimum wage? The UK’s first National Minimum wage was established in 1999 and was set at £3.60 for those over 21. It was feared by business that a minimum wage would cause unemployment. However, over the period between 1999 – 2007, in the …
A two speed Europe refers to how, within the EU, economies are growing at different rates and are at different stages in the business cycle. For example, countries in the core of the Eurozone (Germany, Netherlands, France) have seen relatively good recovery since the recession. In these countries, unit labour costs have remained competitive, enabling …
The Chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernake recently warned that deep spending cuts could be “self-defeating to the still-fragile recovery”. Recent data showed that the global economic recovery remains fragile. The pace of economic growth is being held back by a combination of falling house prices, weak bank lending, high oil prices and lack …
Readers Question. Lastly, what effect would a poor unemployment figure (e.g. lower than expected nonfarm payroll numbers) have on a country’s currency? Is it likely to strengthen (due to lower expectations of inflation) or weaken (due to less domestic productivity and higher imports? Poor unemployment figures would probably weaken the currency. If unemployment figures are …
Readers Question: On Jan 2009 I asked a question on the greek current account deficit, the fixed EUR rate, the lack of competitiveness and the debt load and you expanded brilliantly on the dangers of the twin deficits and the deteriorating Greek credit quality. Now I just need to make a comment that all the …