Comment, analysis and other offerings from Monday’s FT,
Wolfgang Münchau: Draghi can lead the eurozone out of danger
It is generally good practice for columnists not to endorse candidates for high office. But the politics of the succession to Jean-Claude Trichet as president of the European Central Bank has become part of the crisis itself, writes the FT columnist. The decision by Axel Weber, president of the Bundesbank, to leave the race will make it harder for the EU to agree a crisis resolution package in March. Without a German at the top of the ECB, Angela Merkel will need another trophy to bring home from the negotiations. That may prove hard.
News analysis: Investors seek to profit from cajas reform
The already rapid restructuring of the Spanish banking sector is accelerating, according to analysts and bankers, reports the FT’s Victor Mallet. That is because Spain’s finance ministry has seized the initiative from the central bank and investors at home and abroad are busily studying possible mergers and takeovers.
Minxin Pei: The message for China from Tahrir Square
The uprising in Egypt must have stunned Chinese leaders, notes the professor of government at Claremont McKenna College. Beijing has heavily censored news of the uprising, strongly indicating that the Chinese Communist party, which narrowly avoided collapse during a similar popular revolt in 1989, is gripped by the fear that it could encounter the same fate as befell Hosni Mubarak.
Analysis: UK politics – a quiet rebellion
As anti-austerity protests spread to Tory heartlands, the Big Society – David Cameron’s vision of a substitute for a shrinking state – faces growing scepticism, write FT reporters.
Gavyn Davies’ blog: A week in global macro, emerging risks
This week in global macro, the emerging markets reminded us that they are, well, emerging markets, notes the blogging economist. The Egyptian crisis may have moved towards resolution, but there are risks of contagion elsewhere in the region. India continues to be the worst performing stock market of the year, and China is slowing under the weight of tightening monetary policy.
Money Supply: When markets and economists disagree
Professional forecasters have become more optimistic in the Q1 survey by the Philly Fed but I’m not bowled over by their wild enthusiasm, writes the FT’s Robin Harding. A steady 3 to 3.5 per cent pace of recovery doesn’t seem like the kind of forecast that would lead the Fed to an early rate rise.