November, 2009

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28
Nov 09

Viva Espana!

The fruits of a visit to Madrid and the Bank of Spain

There are two attitudes to wrongdoing. The Jimmy Carter or the Bill Clinton. One takes on the sins of the world and the other lets even his own slip off him.

Former US president Carter, when he was a Governor of Georgia, gave a memorable interview to Playboy magazine where he admitted to sinning in his heart.

“I’ve looked on a lot of women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times. This is something that God recognizes I will do – and I have done it – and God forgives me for it,” he said.  Continue reading...

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23
Nov 09

Debt and deficits: an EU perspective

EU Commissioner Almunia on regulation and Maastricht

Tid-bits for entertainment on a winter day:

1. According to Alexei Kudrin, Russia’s finance minister, Gordon Brown is the man who is “known for always raising taxes.”

I once interviewed Kudrin in his socks in his room at the very trendy Sanderson Hotel (www.thebanker.com). I was rather nonplussed by a shoe-less finance minister, but was told this was a Russian custom when entertaining at home. He is the ultimate survivor, an exceedingly able technocrat who has navigated the perilous waters of Russian politics with unusual skill while standing up (sometimes successfully) for what he believes in.  Continue reading...

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9
Nov 09

And the winner is…Lloyds Banking Group

Plus Goldman’s next acquisition

The pendulum always swings too far. The European Court recently ruled that crucifixes must be taken off the walls of Italian classrooms. Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican’s secretary of state, in a reference to Halloween, complained about “a Europe of the third millennium that leaves us only with pumpkins.”

Italian towns and villages run by the government’s party are up in arms. The mayor of Sanremo placed a 2-metre crucifix in the mayoralty. The regional council of Trapani bought 72 of them. In Busto Arsizio flags are flying at half mast. The Bellini theatre of Catania has placed a huge one on the stage. Nightclubs in Valle d’Aosta are attaching them to the walls. “We will never take them down,” vows the Trieste mayor.  Continue reading...