Europe

Authored by Satyajit Das (Author of A Banquet of Consequences), via The Independent,

There are a number of potential triggers to a new crisis.

The first potential trigger may be equity prices.

Two weeks after Austria's dramatic result in its first round presidential elections which saw the right wing, anti-immigrant Freedom Party sweeping its competition, gathering over 35% of the vote and leaving the other five candidates far behind, moments ago Austria unveiled the latest casualty from Europe's anti-refugee, right wing revulsion when the country's Chancellor Werner Faymann resigned after losing the support of his colleagues in the Social Democratic party.

The overnight session has been one of alternative weakness and strength: it started in China where stocks tumbled 2.8% to a two month low following an unexpected warning in the official People's Daily mouthpiece that debt and NPLs are too high, not to expect more easing will come, and that the Chinese Economy’s performance won’t be U- or V-shaped but L-shaped.

Authored by Eric Zuesse,

On May 7th, Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten, or German Economic News, headlined, "USA planen mit TTIP Frontal-Angriff auf Gerichte in Europa” or “U.S. Plans Frontal Attack on Europe’s Courts via TTIP,” and reported that, “America’s urgency to sign TTIP with Europe has solid reason: Megabanks must protect themselves from claims by European investors who allege that they were cheated during the debt crisis. … The U.S. Ambassador to Italy has now let the cat out of the bag on this — probably unintentionally.”

In his latest must read presentation, Citigroup's Matt King continues to expose - and be very concerned by - the increasing helplessness (and cluelessness) of central bankers, something this website has done since 2009, fully aware how it all ends.

Take Matt King's September 2015 piece in which he warned that one of the most serious problems facing the world is that we may have hit its debt ceiling beyond which any debt creation is merely pushing on a string leading to slower growth and further deflation.