Breakingviews

Spain can’t avoid austerity conundrum

By Fiona Maharg-Bravo

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.

It’s hard to get the population revved up for a general strike in a country with a 23 percent unemployment rate. Indeed, the one in Spain on March 29 – aimed at stopping the country’s recent labour reform – was relatively subdued. There is an air of inevitability about the upcoming austerity, to be outlined on March 30 in the conservative government’s first full-year budget. Too much austerity could be self-defeating and even unrealistic, but Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy doesn’t have much choice.

Obama backs healthcare defender – until he doesn’t

By Reynolds Holding 

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

Donald Verrilli may have had a Billy Martin moment. Despite the U.S. solicitor general’s stumbling effort defending President Barack Obama’s healthcare law before the Supreme Court this week, the White House gave him a vote of confidence. That’s what Martin, the volatile New York Yankees manager, used to get just before he was fired. Verrilli’s miss may not change the case’s outcome, but it costs him credibility – if not his job.

Rajoy’s poll loss no ground for wavering on reform

By Fiona Maharg-Bravo

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.

International markets shouldn’t normally care about who wins the local elections in Andalucia. But the elections on March 25 were important enough for Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to delay the announcement of the 2012 budget until after they were held. The tactic didn’t work. The ruling People’s Party failed to get enough votes to govern, confounding opinion polls. But for the government’s reform drive, it’s a setback more than a disaster.

Donor row saps UK government’s austerity authority

By Chris Hughes

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

The UK government is suddenly struggling with the politics of austerity. Its moral authority to force through painful spending cuts, already undermined by a poorly-presented budget, has now been rocked by a political funding scandal.

Top U.S. judges may drown out healthcare debate

By Reynolds Holding
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

America’s verbose top judges could drown out the healthcare debate if they’re not careful. The most talkative Supreme Court on record will next week hear a hefty three days of oral argument on President Barack Obama’s landmark reform. If past patterns hold, the justices will spend more time testing each other than listening to the lawyers for each side.

Supreme Court arguments typically last an hour, a 1970 rule designed to keep cases moving and ensure the justices control the debate. Exceptions are made for the biggest cases. Presidential-tapes landmark United States v. Nixon, for instance, clocked in at four hours in 1974, while McConnell v. FEC, which upheld campaign finance laws in 2003, took eight lawyers four hours to hash out.

UK’s post deal should have pension bosses drooling

By Robert Cole

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

The deal struck between the UK government and its Royal Mail postal service should have other pension bosses drooling. What’s not to like about an arrangement that sees the state take on responsibility to pay ex-employees’ inflation-proofed retirement incomes far into the future?

UK budget deserves lukewarm applause

By Ian Campbell

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

George Osborne deserves a lukewarm round of applause. Britain’s chancellor, pinned down by a still-large deficit and rating agencies threatening the UK’s triple-A credit rating, tried to work some tricks into his budget. Cutting taxes for the very rich and less well-off, and further lowering corporation tax, is mildly positive for optimism, growth and recovery. But the need to maintain fiscal sobriety means that what Osborne gives with one hand, he has to take with the other.

China reform may require a deeper crisis

By John Foley

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

“Reform” might turn out to be this year’s most overused word in China. The country’s outgoing premier Wen Jiabao, and his likely successor Li Keqiang, have both recently spoken of the urgent need to change. Even Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily advised last month that it’s better to have imperfect reforms than a crisis caused by none at all. The trouble is that China lacks external creditors or voters to hold leaders to account and make these reforms a reality.

Shame if Spain loses second ECB seat

By Fiona Maharg-Bravo

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.

In an ideal world, everybody would lose their national passports and just become European when they arrive at the European Central Bank. In practice, nationality matters. That much was true when Jean-Claude Trichet, a Frenchman, ceased being ECB President and was replaced by Mario Draghi, an Italian. France was keen to get another countryman on the board so that it would regain its traditional two seats. Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, who by then was the third Italian on the board, was persuaded to make way.

Euro left is powerless against austerity zealots

By Pierre Briançon

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

There may be some residual skirmishes, but the rear-guard resistance against the euro zone “fiscal compact” doesn’t stand much of a chance.