Press
Eurozone must deal with two urgent questions
21 November 2010
Financial Times
"The plan has caused political consternation and market panic," observes Katinka Barysch, deputy director of the Centre for European Reform think-tank.
Más gobierno para salvar al euro
21 November 2010
El Pais
Y Simon Tilford, economista jefe del CER, asegura que "los países del euro tienen que reconocer que una exitosa unión monetaria requerirá un grado mucho mayor de integración política".
Lights are dimming for the euro
21 November 2010
The Sunday Times
The Centre for European Reform's chief economist Simon Tilford says: "I don't think the current membership of the euro is written in stone." For a country to leave, he says, would be "very messy and risky" but it is no longer inconceivable. … Would Italy [which already has huge debts] be able to underwrite another X billion of debt, given that the markets might be sceptical they would get it back? I don't know," Tilford says.
Austerity may not doom European governments to fall
19 November 2010
Reuters
"The politicians have succeeded for now in imposing spending cuts, but what happens in round 14 or 15 of those cuts," said Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform in London. "I think Ireland can take a lot more pain as the Latvians did, but I'm not convinced the Greeks and some Mediterranean countries with no tradition of budget discipline will."
Stunde der Buchprüfer
19 November 2010
Frankfurter Rundschau
"Die Körperschaftsteuer gehörte zu Faktoren, die die irische Wirtschaft über Jahre haben wachsen lassen, auch wenn sie nicht allein für die Ansiedlung einer Vielzahl ausländischer Firmen verantwortlich war", sagt Simon Tilford, Wirtschaftsexperte des Centre for European Reform.
NATO: Trying to keep the Americans in
19 November 2010
Global Post
Clara O'Donnell, a research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, said there was "a lot of truth" to German diplomat von Ploetz's doubts about US enthusiasm. The United States knows that Europe is still its closest ally, she said. But America might not want to "stay fully engaged with NATO" if it means getting involved in "European neighborhood issues" such as the Balkans, especially if Europe doesn't want to help out on future expeditionary wars like Afghanistan.
Obama sets aside only two hours to meet with European leaders at NATO meeting in Portugal
18 November 2010
CNS News
"Obama will continue to think of engaging China as a top US priority, and seek to get along with Russia and other emerging powers," Tomas Valasek of the Centre for European Reform in London, wrote this month. "The issues that will compete for the president's attention over the next few years will be Iran, Afghanistan and the Middle East peace process. Neither the EU nor Eastern Europe is likely to move up his agenda."
Befreien Sie den Euro!
18 November 2010
Financial Times Deutschland
"Mit einer Hilfe für Spanien würde die Lage außer Kontrolle geraten", sagt Simon Tilford vom Centre for European Reform. Die Investoren auf den Finanzmärkten würden nicht schlucken, dass das hoch verschuldete Italien dem weniger verschuldeten Spanien Kredite garantiert.
Eurozone rescue row doesn't shake German view
18 November 2010
Reuters
"Taken out of context there is obviously merit to the Franco-German proposal. But the timing could not have been more damaging," wrote Simon Tilford, chief economist of the Centre for European Reform.
The price of German leadership
17 November 2010
Financial Times
The euro, the European Union’s boldest and most ambitious project, is under threat. Divisions among Europe’s leaders, and their inability to stabilise the euro, have damaged the EU’s reputation on other continents. The good news is that the EU now has an emerging leader.
Eurozone plans possible Irish bailout
17 November 2010
Radio Free Europe
Simon Tilford, the chief economist for the London-based Centre for European Reform, says a request from Ireland for other eurozone members to stabilise the Irish banking sector essentially amounts to support for the Irish state budget: "Investors have started to shun Irish government debt because they are worried about the [possible] liabilities in the country's banking sector - because the Irish government has essentially underwritten the debts of the private banks," Tilford explains.
Barack Obama, tell us that we're special
17 November 2010
The Guardian
This disconnect has a broader geopolitical context. Styling himself America's "Pacific president", Obama appears fixated on the rising stars of Asia, principally China and India, and on Russia's continuing leverage, argued Tomas Valasek in a paper for the Centre for European Reform. "The president believes the rise of emerging powers … puts new constraints on America's ability to set the global agenda. So he is courting China, Russia and other new powers to encourage them to take a greater stake in managing the global order," Valasek wrote.
Transport ministry looks to Asia
17 November 2010
The Prague Post
"When it comes down to imported goods, it's much easier to draw a link between very low prices and the implicit subsidy," said Simon Tilford, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform, who added that much of China's subsidies come in the form of its enormous currency reserves, which keep the yuan at artificial lows. But civil engineering projects abroad are trickier when it comes to proving state help, especially since the firms must largely rely on local labour and resources...
Uncertain destination of Atlantic journey
17 November 2010
Financial Times
Clara Marina O’Donnell, a defence expert at the Centre for European Reform, says European cuts are so serious that they make this week's summit look like "a surrealist play". She notes that Nato's new "strategic concept" will set out fresh ambitions for the alliance to deal with cyberwarfare, missile defence and terrorism, "yet in Europe, the very resources to deal with those threats are being cut back hugely". There are hopes that two new European Union directives setting out competition rules in defence procurement will reform the sector.
As Ireland flounders the EU moves towards a bailout
17 November 2010
Time
Simon Tilford, chief economist at the London-based Centre for European Reform, says that unless the EU intervenes, investors will believe that default is inevitable and demand correspondingly punitive interest rates. "Contagion to other member states will be all but inevitable," he says. "If, and when, it reaches Spain, the crisis risks spiraling out of control."
Climate change set to cause migrant surge
17 November 2010
CNN
First societies must become strong enough to cope with newcomers, according to Hugo Brady, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform. "It's disingenuous to say business needs migrants and we're all getting older so it'll all be fine. It skips over the fact that it doesn't follow that we can solve our demographic problems with lots of immigration. And it ignores the fact that our societies need to be set up for that. I'd be sceptical that societies could absorb immigration on the scale suggested by our demographics.
Eurozone seeks way out of Irish debt crisis
16 November 2010
Business Standard
"Unless the EU changes track and agrees to make the EFSF (rescue fund) permanent and the ECB steps up its purchases of the hard-hit countries' government bonds, investors will believe that default is inevitable and demand correspondingly punitive interest rates," said Simon Tilford, chief economist at the London-based Centre for European Reform. "Contagion to other member-states will be all but inevitable. If, and when, it reaches Spain, the crisis risks spiralling out of control," he said.
Lisbon falls flat
15 November 2010
Newsweek
"The Europeans need to realise that if they want to be taken seriously, then they have to be relevant," says Charles Grant of the Centre for European Reform, a London think tank.
Herman Van Rompuy: The man who wants to control your finances
15 November 2010
The Telegraph
Since coming to power, Cameron has been mending fences with Merkel and Sarkozy, after his provocative decision in opposition to stop sitting with their parties in the European Parliament. Adopting Persson’s advice to "play politics" with economic governance, an issue that affects the eurozone more than Britain, would "antagonise" our partners all over again, says Katinka Barysch, deputy director of the Centre for European Reform think-tank. It would also, she says, "damage Britain's own interests.
Bail-out fund stands by for first big test
12 November 2010
Financial Times
But Simon Tilford, chief economist at the London-based Centre for European Reform, said the shifting sentiment signaled by Ms Merkel's stance has overwhelmed the temporary calm. "The fact that [the EFSF] is there means they're in a better position than they were in late April or early May [at the height of concerns over Greece], but it doesn't change anything fundamental," Mr Tilford said.