Euro lacks a government banker, not a lender of last resort

12/12/2011

This article by Thomas Palley, of the New America Foundation's Economic Growth Programme, was published in the FT Economists' Forum on December 9th

Sinéad Pentony: It crunch time (again) for the Eurozone, so this article by Thomas Palley is timely, as he articulates the causes of the Eurozone debt crisis and the solutions that are needed, differently from many of the other voices in the debate.

Palley argues that the euro has a lender of last resort – the ECB – but what’s lacking is a government banker, like the Federal Reserve or Bank of England, which helps finance budget deficits and keeps rates low on government debt. Thus explaining why the US and UK can borrow at lower rates than countries such as Spain, which has a similar deficit and debt profile, but its under speculative attack.

Palley points the finger at the “euro’s neoliberal birthmark”, which laid the foundation for a diminished role of the state and enhanced power of the market. He goes on to argue that previously, national banking systems were masters of the bond market, but the euro’s architecture makes bond markets masters of national governments – and this is the problem that must be solved through the creation of a government banker.

Posted in: Banking and financeEuropeEurope

Tagged with: eurozoneECBEuro crisis

Share:



Comments

Newsletter Sign Up  

Categories

Contributors

Sean McCabe

Sean holds an B.Sc in Applied Physics from Dublin City University and an M.Sc. in …

Vic Duggan

Vic Duggan is an independent consultant, economist and public policy specialist catering …

Paul Sweeney

Paul Sweeney is former Chief Economist of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. He was a …



Podcasts