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Bailing In while Bailing Out

European finance ministers have finally agreed to a set of rules that should govern future bank resolutions, i.e. clarify who will pay for shutting down failing institutions. If the aim …

Germany and the Euro Zone Balance of Power: Transatlantic Trade to the Rescue?

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) launched by President Barack Obama, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, and European Commission President José Manuel Barroso at the G8 Summit in …

Debating the Role of German Leadership

What does Germany want? Almost four years after the outbreak of the euro crisis, many Europeans still ask themselves this very question. In a recent interview with the German weekly …

Cool in Sunnylands, Warm in Berlin

Within just a few weeks, President Obama sought to bolster two of the United States’ most important relationships. First, he first met with the new Chinese President, Xi Jinping, in …

Bernanke’s Exit Strategy

If the Fed’s intention is to prepare financial markets for a smooth exit from its expansionary non-standard policies, then Chairman Ben Bernanke has failed spectacularly up to this point. His …

The EU/China Trade War and German National Interest

In an interview with Spiegel on Monday, Angela Merkel discussed Germany’s role in light of the crisis and the path for future growth and cooperation in Europe. The talk covered …

Avoiding Regulatory Arbitrage in times of TTIP – Challenges for Supervision in International Finance

The views expressed in this essay are those of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect those of AGI or any other affiliated organizations. Introduction In mid-June 2013, the …

Draghi’s Holding Pattern

While central banks in the U.S. and Japan are struggling with the consequences of their non-conventional policies, President of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi proudly promotes his institution’s more …

German Bashing and a French-German Art Controversy

German bashing is in. Commentators in Germany insist that it is used throughout Europe, especially in southern European countries, to divert attention from homegrown financial blunders. In fact, Germany is …

Bernanke’s Slide

The global financial markets’ slide on Thursday was a stark reminder of the fact that investors remain addicted to cheap money from central banks. It only took U.S. Federal Reserve …

The Trust Trifecta

Engraved on the U.S. dollar bill are the words “in God we trust.” The sarcastic extension of that phrase says “all others pay cash.” It seems that forces rampant in …

Schaeuble’s Interim Banking Union

In a recent article for the Financial Times, Germany’s Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble finally explained to an international audience why he thinks treaty changes are necessary in order to provide …