Pre-positioning: the quiet revolution rocking central banking (POLITICO)
By Izabella Kaminska · Jan 19, 2024 There’s a quiet revolution happening at the heart of central banking, but you wouldn’t necessarily know it. On the surface, the inconspicuous language around the shift makes it sound like any other boring back-office central bank protocol. For now, even financial markets haven’t picked up on its significance. […]
German central bank chief to join street protest against right-wing extremism (POLITICO)
By Geoffrey Smith · Jan 18, 2024 The head of Germany’s fiercely independent central bank is taking to the streets in protest at the rise of far-right extremism. Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel told Der Spiegel on Thursday he was concerned by the rise of right-wing populism “both as Bundesbank president and as a citizen” and […]
Political push for cheaper ‘green’ interest rate runs into ECB resistance (POLITICO)
By Ben Munster · Jan 17, 2024 Central bankers and politicians are at odds over a new scheme to combat climate change that would get cheap funding to companies pushing the green transition and discriminate against polluters, by offering them two different interest rates. Politicians, including French President Emmanuel Macron, argue that rolling out such […]
UK unveils plan to guard supply chains against geopolitical threats (POLITICO)
By Joseph Bambridge · Jan 17, 2024 LONDON — The United Kingdom has unveiled its strategy to help businesses navigate risks to their supply chains as tensions threaten to disrupt vital trade routes around the world. The Critical Imports and Supply Chains Strategy, published Wednesday, addresses the impact of “geopolitical tensions” which have “already forced […]
In the Blind Spot (Suspending democracy to save democracy edition)
Dear Subscribers, Welcome to another TBS newsletter, brought to you this week from frosty London, with usual contributions from a much less frosty Marbella via my trusty colleague Daria Garcia Giner. It’s been a newsy week on many fronts, not least with Bitcoin ETFs being launched and US/UK strikes hitting Yemen. But we’ll leave those […]
In the Blind Spot (Trust collapse as the biggest risk of 2024?)
Dear Subscribers, Welcome back and a happy 2024 to you all. It’s still the tail-end of the school holidays, so commendations to my trusty zoomer colleague Dario Garcia Giner, who has done the heavy lifting on this week’s edition. I don’t know about you, but I did try to properly unplug this Christmas season. I […]
The ECB’s digital euro team is coming apart (POLITICO)
The ECB’s digital euro team is coming apart By POLITICO Pro Staff · Dec 21, 2023 It’s not just political enthusiasm that’s waning for the digital euro. Staff are abandoning the project too. POLITICO has learned that around 30 percent of the team planning the minting of virtual euro banknotes and coins have left the […]
Europe’s bonfire of the vaccines (POLITICO)
By Carlo Martuscelli, Hanne Cokelaere · Dec 14, 2023 “Be prepared,” goes the scout motto. The European Union is discovering there is such a thing as being too prepared. An analysis by POLITICO reveals that at least 215 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines purchased by EU countries during the pandemic now lie in landfills across […]
In the Blind Spot (A wind of change at the National Bank of Poland)
Dear Subscribers, Before we commence, a little bit of housekeeping. We are, as ever, eternally grateful to our subscribers for their support and patronage. We hope you have enjoyed our coverage and insights this year and plan to stick around next year.It’s been great working with Dario Garcia Giner for another year. He has done […]
War fatigue splits Ukraine’s politicians and soldiers (POLITICO)
By Veronika Melkozerova · Dec 5, 2023, 7:21 AM KYIV — More than 21 months after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine the mood is turning grim in Kyiv — with tensions between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his top general, Valery Zaluzhny, spilling into the open. Last year’s successes, as Ukraine first blunted Russia’s […]