Given the shortcomings of the current responses to the sovereign debt crisis in the eurozone, the author proposes utilising national gold reserves as collateral for government debt. Gold backing would be quite attractive to bond investors and would significantly ease the burden of high sovereign...

Competence behind sovereign ratings is crucial, given that the government bond market may be vulnerable to multiple equilibria and self-fulfilling prophecies. With this in mind, this paper reviews and scrutinises official Standard & Poor's publications that address key issues surrounding the...

The current complicated economic situation in Greece - and the rising political uncertainty that once again accompanies it - has important repercussions for growth, incomes, employment and the banking system in both the short and long term. The new Greek government is trying to perform a...

The economic and financial crisis has hit Spain harder than practically any other country in Europe. Even if there are occasional reports that the Spanish economy is improving slightly, the unemployment rate remains at 25 per cent and is as high as 54 per cent among Spain's young people. The...