MacroScope

One of the more bizarre aspects of the euro zone crisis is that the currency in question -- the euro -- has actually not had that bad a year, certainly against the dollar. Even with Greece on the brink and Italy sending ripples of fear across financial markets, the single currency is still up  1.4 percent against the greenback for the year to date.

There are lots of reasons for this. The dollar is subject to its country's own debt crisis, negligible interest rates and various forms of quantitative easing money printing -- all of which weaken FX demand. There is also some evidence that euro investors are bring their money home, as the super-low yields on 10-year German bonds attest.

Finally -- and this is a bit of a stretch -- some investors reckon that if a hard core euro emerges from the current debacle, it could be a buy. Thanos Papasavvas, head of currency management at Investec Asset Management, says:

Let's assume there is some sort of breakup ... if the euro is the currency of a potentially core set of economies, then it would be an incredibly strong currency

Of course, there is the question of whether $1.36 or thereabouts represents a strong euro against the dollar.  Lots of people, for example, tend to judge it by the $1.17 rate at which the euro was introduced.  But the following graph suggests that if you give the euro a longer historical life, it is not all that much above its average value. Still higher than some might have expected give the crisis that is threatening it entire survival.

The European Central Bank has to cut official interest rates by at least another percentage point to stop the real cost of borrowing for households and firms jumping in the summer as inflation plummets.

That’s the logical conclusion of comments in recent weeks made by ECB policymakers including Italy’s Mario Draghi and Germany’s Axel Weber, who are watching inflation-adjusted borrowing costs closely to gauge the impact of cuts in official interest rates on the real economy.

One key factor in the euro zone’s economic recovery will be the real cost of borrowing, the interest rate paid on credit after adjusting for inflation, or any loss of purchasing power.

Economists are now certain the European Central Bank will cut interest rates again at its next meeting, the only question is how much.
ECB chief Jean-Claude Trichet’s blunt hint that a rate cut is possible, although not certain, at the next rate meeting on November 6 cemented expectations that the central bank is readying more ammunition to fire at the financial crisis.
Although Trichet would not be drawn on the size of the possible cut, using the past as a guide suggests it could be a repeat of Oct. 8′s half a percentage point reduction.
In June, Trichet flagged a quarter-point rate hike by saying that it was possible, although not certain that the ECB “could decide to move our rates by a small amount” — a qualification that was missing from Monday’s announcement.
   ”The absence of this language in today’s speech, suggests that the ECB President is leaving the door open to a bigger reduction,” Fortis Bank economist Nick Kounis said, tipping a half a percentage point cut to 3.25 percent.
Although the majority of its 25 rate changes have been by only 25 basis points, the pattern shows the ECB is more likely to be bold when cutting rates than when raising them.
Six of the nine rate cuts the ECB has undertaken since 1999 have been of 50 basis points, compared to only two of the 16 rate hikes.
The last two rate cuts, on Oct. 8 and before then in June 2003, were both 50 basis point moves — so the ECB could well go for three in a row.
Some have speculated that the ECB may even cut rates by 75 basis points, although it has never made such a large leap in its 10-year history, either up or down.

It was a routine press conference given by Canada’s Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney on the results of Friday’s G7 meeting.

After reassuring Canadian’s that they “probably have the most efficient, effective financial system in the world”, Carney was asked how Wednesday’s coordinated interest rate cut came together and who drove the process.

His answer revealed not only a “code of silence” among Central Bank leaders, but also hinted that those same leaders might have some special powers — at least if we are to believe they all independently decided an interest rate cut was a good idea at the exact same time.