Looking like a euro zone solution has evolved
Posted by WARREN MOSLER on 28th May 2012
Looks like the drama could be about over, with the ECB now deciding to support the entire banking system.
The ECB guarantees bank liquidity via lending to any member bank with qualifying collateral. The list of qualifying collateral is kept sufficiently inclusive and haircuts sufficiently low to ensure liquidity.
With national govt debt on the list of qualifying collateral, this allows the banking system to support national govt funding needs.
And it all comes at a time where euro zone deficit spending is sufficient to support flat to modest growth. And at a time when the politics are unlikely to push for additional material proactive austerity measures.
With modest growth and relative stability will come proclamations along the lines of ‘the austerity worked’, however, without the austerity it all would have ‘worked’ just as well, but from a starting point of a lower output gap.
Posted in ECB, EU | 66 Comments »