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So far Bob has created 263 blog entries.

Cross-examination by contrepoints.org of my presentation in Aix-en-Provence about the European Stability Mechanism

My book, upon which all is based

Published on 7th September 2023

After my presentation at the IES-IREF Summer School in Aix-en-Provence about the European Stability Mechanism and its dependency on France’s retaining its AA-rating, the French business website contrepoints.org asked me a series of follow up questions, and here are the answers in English.

Here is a […]

Euro is like Bitcoin, substantially without backing

Collapsing Euro is riskier than ‘gambling on Bitcoin’

Published on 6th September 2023

The Express reinforced my Comment piece themselves the following day:https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1800197/collapsing-euro-bitcoin-gambling-debtA leading economist has warned that the Euro is only being sustained because the credit rating agencies have not downgraded Germany yet.

Writing for Express.co.uk Bob Lyddon, has warned that investing in the currency is now less safe than “gambling on bitcoin” […]

The euro – no better than bitcoin?

Keeping the flag flying for the euro

Published on 2th September 2023

This piece appeared as a Comment in the Daily Express. It is about the implications of the European Stability Mechanism being so weak, given that it is the main backing for the euro:https://www.express.co.uk/comment/expresscomment/1799489/EU-latest-news-euro-against-pound-euro-collapse

Digital currencies – bitcoin, stablecoin, Britcoin et al – makes your head spin. […]

European Stability Mechanism hanging by a thread on France’s credit rating

Published on 5th September 2023

The Daily Express picked up on my article pubished through IREF about the European Stability Mechanism:

https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1797868/eurozone-euro-eu-france-credit-rating

The ESM’s firepower – to back the debts of Eurozone member states and thereby to act as the backstop for the currency itself – depends upon its having backers of sufficient size and with high enough […]

UK’s debt is NOT larger than the EU’s

Bruges Group book summary

Published on 5th September 2023

The Campaign for an Independent Britain published this piece that the UK’s debt is not larger than the EU’s as the Daily Telegraph had claimed, if the EU member states’ shadow debts and contingent liabilities are factored in:https://cibuk.org/eurozone-debt-dwarfs-that-of-the-uk/

My figures on the EU are drawfrom my book ‘The shadow […]

InvestEU, NetZero and the growing debts of EU citizens

As presented at the IES-IREF Summer University in Aix 20-22 July 2023

Published on 27th July 2023

I made a presentation at the IES-IREF Summer University in Aix-en-Provence about an aspect of my book, ‘The shadow liabilities of EU Member States, and the threat they pose to global financial stability’.

The relevant aspect is the build-up of off-balance […]

The European Stability Mechanism hangs by a thread – on France’s credit rating

The ESM and its image

Published on 26th July 2023

As previously published on IREF Europe: https://en.irefeurope.org/publications/online-articles/article/the-european-stability-mechanism-hangs-by-a-thread-on-frances-credit-rating/

Introduction

The European Stability Mechanism (ESM) backstops the euro. Its nominal size is €705 billion but its lending capacity is lower at €500 billion, and the main condition attached to that is that the member states guarantees of the ESM’s solvency […]