It's all Greek

In July 2012, the European Central Bank's president, Mario Draghi promised to do "whatever it takes" to stabilise the Euro. Since then the fears of a Euro break up have receded into the background. That is until now.


For some reason the current Greek government under Mr Samaros decided to bring forward the presidential election to later this month. The Presidency is a largely ceremonial role but if Samaros cannot get enough votes for his candidate Stavros Dimas, a general election will follow. It seems likely, fingers crossed for the Euro, that Mr Dimas will win the vote. However the uncertainty  ( and investors hate surprises unless they pop , buck naked , out of cakes ) has roiled the Euro .

In case there is  general election ,polls suggest that Alexis Tsipras, the populist party leader would win. Although he professes to he would like to remain in the Eurozone , Tsipras  is making promises on public spending and austerity measures that would make it hard for him to keep his aims intact.

The potential and political fall out from the GFC in 2007, made any alternatives to the Euro "scary biscuits"and most preferred to stick with austerity rather than risking meeting the devil they didn't know. Now that the world has not ended and the affected economies appear to be stable, although painfully slow and sluggish, the political risks seem less perilous. The inertia of Europe, economically, is a problem that is current and perhaps more urgent.

There are disgruntled murmurings within EU ranks over still  current austerity measures and apart from the discontent within the  PIGS (Portugal,Italy,Greece and Spain) there are also signs of ferment in France and Germany while the Anglo Saxon Press take pot shots at the "smudgy amalgam of European Politics" to quote Churchill.

It would seem that the nightmarish thrills that turn on business tycoons before they go to sleep is still around but being optimistic, the jitters

does present traders with "opportunities" to earn some extra moolah.

ΏΠΑ!

A class act

Christine Lagarde rose to prominence when appointed Finance Minister in 2007 by the then President of France Sarkozy or Sarky as he was referred to in France.Her  frenchness and internationalism was a refreshing change for European politicians long used to the Gallic myopia of her predecessor.

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Smart, chic and successful, she is a lawyer by profession and was the global head for the law firm of Baker, Mackenzie in the U.S.
Hard working and professional Lagarde has an appetite for technical detail (very French) and the knack of getting her with with charm rather than bullying. She is also an advocate of social issues including climate change , which she sees as real ,  as well as the role of women , once claiming  that there was too much testosterone in high-powered circles. She is also a firm advocate of the role of the Euro in international markets,
She has recently voiced her concern at the possible impact of the Ebola virus on sustained growth and recovery after the GFC. With the current mixture of Ukraine, Syria, IS and Ebola she has her work cut out for her.

"The global economy needs new policy momentum to beat mediocre growth."