Roger Bootle, managing director of Capital Economics and speaker at the Fourth Annual CFA Institute European Investment Conference, has issued a warning and some harsh criticism in his latest column for The Telegraph.
In the column, Mr. Bootle states that we are now in “an interlinked crisis of both the banking system and the public finances,” brought about by governments that “have been blithely insouciant towards the dangers posed by huge levels of public sector debt.” He also traces problems back to the formation of the European Union, calling the euro “a halfway house,” and stating that “To work effectively, monetary union would need to be combined with fiscal union, and fiscal union would require political union.”
Meanwhile, Robert Jenkins — a member of the Bank of England’s interim financial policy committee and session moderator at the European Investment Conference — agreed with Mr. Bootle’s earlier assertion that a Greek default outside of the European Union could be “the greatest threat to the continuing existence of the euro.”
Mr. Jenkins recently wrote a column for Financial News (subscription required) in which he outlines a hypothetical scenario where Greece leaves the European Union and subsequently defaults on its debts. The results are dramatic (“EU economic activity stops”).
You can gain additional insight from Mr. Bootle, Mr. Jenkins, and other leading thinkers at the CFA Institute Fourth Annual European Investment Conference. Register now to join them in Paris as they explore some of the most vital financial issues facing Europe and the rest of the world.
