Larry Elliott

Three reasons to fear the future

IT’S official. The eurozone has entered a double-dip recession after recording a 0.1 per cent contraction in the third quarter of 2012. Published 16 Nov, 2012 09:01pm

Will economic woes sink Obama?

The Great Recession has been hard on world leaders. Gordon Brown, Nicolas Sarkozy and Silvio Berlusconi are all history. Angela Merkel has her date with destiny next autumn, and Barack Obama has his on Tuesday. Published 06 Nov, 2012 03:12am

Spanish bailout now inevitable

POLICY in Europe is all about playing for time. The big-picture ideas for saving the single currency will take years, not months, to come to fruition — but the threat of collapse is immediate. Published 25 Jul, 2012 12:00am

Confidence key to lasting global economic recovery

LONDON, July 8: The fifth anniversary of the start of the financial crisis is approaching and is being marked by concerted action to prevent a fresh downward lurch in the global economy. Interest rates Published 09 Jul, 2012 01:45am

Eurozone austerity hits world’s poor

THE flow of aid from Europe to the world’s poorest countries fell by 700m euro in 2011, the first drop for almost a decade as the crisis in the single currency caused 14 member states to cut development assistance. Published 26 Jun, 2012 12:00am

Europe’s ‘debt storm’

SIR Meryvn King, the governor of the Bank of England, Thursday night announced emergency measures to help banks and boost business lending amid a warning from the chancellor George Osborne that the Published 15 Jun, 2012 10:09pm

OECD’s concern

FAILURE by Europe to ease the pace of its strict austerity programme risks leading to a vicious circle that could put paid to a tentative recovery in the global economy, the Organisation for Economic Published 24 May, 2012 09:01pm

Europe’s new crisis

IT happens like this. The election result in Greece means pro-austerity parties lack the parliamentary support and the moral authority to govern. Published 09 May, 2012 12:00am

Smaller states as ‘rising stars’

THEY lack the size of China or India. Many have to import natural resources. They have yet to be given a snappy label such as the BRICS. But Chile, Tunisia, Taiwan, Jordan and Kazakhstan have been Published 28 Apr, 2012 01:01am

UK’s north-south divide

YOUTH unemployment in Bradford, northern England, is double the UK average. The city is the third most affordable place in Britain to buy a home. Published 02 Apr, 2012 08:00pm

Confidence returns

IT all started when stock markets around the world tumbled in October 1987. After seeing the Dow Jones index fall by more than 500 points in a single day, the then-chairman of the Federal Reserve cut interest rates Published 26 Mar, 2012 07:30pm

UK recovery too slow

BRITAIN has slipped behind Brazil in the global economic league table. The Bank of England has now kept the official cost of borrowing at 0.5 per cent for three years and is part way through a third dose of electronic money creation. Published 12 Mar, 2012 11:30pm

Greek deal not the end of story

IT could have been a disaster. Had Greece’s private-sector creditors convincingly rejected the idea of exchanging their old bonds for much lower value new bonds the skies would have fallen in. Financial markets Published 11 Mar, 2012 09:31pm

Greece may abandon the euro

THERE’S a scene in The Lord of the Rings where the wizard Gandalf confronts the Balrog, a hellish monster, on a narrow bridge in the Mines of Moria. Published 20 Feb, 2012 11:30pm

Gates backs anti-graft laws for third world

Bill Gates is putting pressure on the Obama administration to prevent major US energy companies from neutering legislation aimed at stamping out corruption in developing countries Published 17 Feb, 2012 09:54pm

Eurozone economy shrinks

THE eurozone economy contracted in late 2011 for the first time since the depth of the global recession as the struggle to save the single currency took its toll on growth across the 17-nation region. Published 16 Feb, 2012 11:30pm

Losing at Global Apocalypse

IMAGINE the world economy as a video game, one observer said. You have to complete a number of stages before you win, and the idea is to dodge all the bad stuff that can come at you at any moment Published 31 Jan, 2012 01:00am

Europe blunders into blind alley

EUROPE is sleepwalking into a prolonged depression. The prospect of 2012 seeing the start of the break-up of the eurozone is a real one Published 12 Dec, 2011 12:15am

Loss of sovereignty will be hard

If any country in the European Union has historical reasons to fear the consequences of handing greater power to Germany it is Poland Published 04 Dec, 2011 01:34am