TEc - London's airport conundrum - A complex decision looms that will determine London's airport system capacity

What a great fix it is to decide on such a massive airport system now experiencing real capacity strains.
It will ultimately have to be a political choice based on technical, planning, financial, economic, and environmental grounds.
Yet mainly political.

There are understandably clashing interests at stake which therefore makes any decision highly controversial. More so if expanding Heathrow is chosen.
The commission has plenty of work to busy itself with.
The daunting challenge being at the end of it all a recommendation will have to be made that singles out one winner option.

Shifting the LHRairport platform westwards - with two further runways - seems more sensible on first glance.

However, there's much work to do to arrive at any proposal that adds capacity to London's airport system.

to the FT - José Sócrates is back to claim a voice in the country

JSocrates' return to having a voice in Portugal's lamentable predicament could be put to good use if only the former PM had not become such a divisive figure.

It is the very recent past that's fresh on people's minds. At a time when social conditions in the country worsen on the back of an unbearable debt load and a partly self-defeating financial adjustment programme claiming a heavy toll on the economy.

Yet, was there an alternative back in early 2011?
JS says yes putting full blame for Portugal's bailout request on the politics of the day then.

That's his main line of defense showing no regrets for his two governments' actions over 6 years.
I would wish for an independent economic and financial assessment - very hard to obtain in this country - although it would now be tantamount to no more than exercise for academia.
Could Portugal have avoided the Troika-granted lifeline?

The following weeks and months will reveal JS's real impact on Portuguese politics.

The political world remains largely divorced from the daily worries and anxieties of the majority, I would think.

JSocrates' does have a point on many counts but he cannot deflect from having played a big role firmly setting the trendline of Portugal's public debt on an unsustainable path.

to the FT - On Cyprus

The very idea that the EU's easternmost territory - an island country of 1M - could bring upon itself such grief and uncertainty is mind boggling.
Did Cyprus's leadership actually believe they could muddle through relatively unscathed indefinitely?

The two main industries - banking services and tourism - put Cyprus on the world map while raising levels of development and living standards.

There are many other similar development models around the world especially where islands or small enclaves/territories are concerned.
Can they realistically thrive on oversized banking sectors regardless?
It is a question I have asked myself in ages.

Apparently not.

The EU's approach to Cyprus - one of its own - cannot be condoned but what sort of trade-offs were exacted to let Cyprus into the EU less than 10 years ago and then into the Eurozone in 2008?
Perhaps rhetorical questions don't help now.

The Eurozone remains entangled in a web of diverging variables ranging from hard economics to the cultural within each of its member-countries.
It will be a tough challenge to keep it going in the current format or a new start must be made.

Restoring hope of economic growth to vast regions across southern Europe going up north is paramount.
Ultimately the only way for indebted countries to pay their interest dues on continuously rolling debt.

High Politics, Vision, Statesmanship and basic Good Sense is called for.

to the FT - Cyprus's woes set in context

There's only one reason Cyprus's handling by the relevant parties did not trigger bank runs elsewhere in troubled countries:
commoners find the unfolded/unfolding story too surreal/bad to believe in the first place!

Nowhere are people ever distracted when it is their own money that's on the line. But the very idea that suddenly institutional Europe - bodies supposedly entrusted with pursuing the well-being of entire nations - can raid the people's savings and make a grab is beyond reasonable words.
Was it Cyprus's own leadership who tried to apply lightly differentiated levies on all savings from €500 to hundreds of thousands to the millions?
Just so Cyprus might remain a safe haven for wealthy Russian and other depositors?
In a move brightly designed to appease bigger depositors by spreading the pain across all savers?
No respect shown whatsoever for the vast majority of Cypriots on average incomes with small to moderate to large (yes-why not?) savings?
Lifetime savings for some.

Cyprus's descent to hell brings to the fore (again) a number of very serious questions no-one has been willing to address over many years. Least of all settle for a balanced model.
Fiscal paradise for foreigners to park their fortunes - won't even ask their source - to then get overexposure to Greece?
Is this the main thrust to Cyprus's prosperity?

The limits to unregulated capitalism are clearer than ever.
Banking and finance remain essential to the workings of any society and economy.
An oversized, freewheeling sector that seemingly does well while the going is good represents, besides hefty risk, certainty that at some point in time it will implode.
As usual not before those-otherwise-hateful-taxpayers are called upon to come to their rescue.

Cyprus's original predicament lies in that citizens are doubly burdened, both as taxpayers and depositors.
An affront to honest, hard-working people it was.
A grotesque, nameless and faceless breach of trust whose seriousness cannot be underrated.

A new deal has now been hammered out.
Reads like a meaningful improvement on previous ones.
Some thought was put into the savings of the 'little guy'.
In actual fact no more than upholding the Eurozone's own deposit insurance treshold.

While it may be acknowledged that no solution to Cyprus is equally painless, standing up for fairness must remain top of priorities. Understood as such by every single government official and head of international organizations concerned. At all times.
More so when problems become especially complex as is Cyprus's case today.

An island caught between a rock and a very hard place.

TEc - A better deal, but still painful - Cyprus gives in in exchange for a costly lifeline!

There's only one reason Cyprus's handling by the relevant parties did not trigger bank runs elsewhere in troubled countries:
commoners find the unfolded/unfolding story too surreal/bad to believe in the first place!

Nowhere are people ever distracted when it is their own money that's on the line. But the very idea that suddenly institutional Europe - bodies supposedly entrusted with pursuing the well-being of entire nations - can raid the people's savings and make a grab is beyond reasonable words.

Was it Cyprus's own leadership who tried to apply lightly differentiated levies on all savings from €500 to hundreds of thousands to the millions?
Just so Cyprus might remain a safe haven for wealthy Russian and other depositors?
In a move brightly designed to appease bigger depositors by spreading the pain across all savers?
No respect shown whatsoever for the vast majority of Cypriots on average incomes with small to moderate to large (yes-why not?) savings?
Lifetime savings for some.

Cyprus's descent to hell brings to the fore (again) a number of very serious questions no-one has been willing to address over many years. Least of all settle for a balanced model.
Fiscal paradise for foreigners to park their fortunes - won't even ask their source - to then get overexposure to Greece?
Is this the main thrust to Cyprus's prosperity?

The limits to unregulated capitalism are clearer than ever.
Banking and finance remain essential to the workings of any society and economy.
An oversized, freewheeling sector that seemingly does well while the going is good represents, besides hefty risk, certainty that at some point in time it will implode.
As usual not before those-otherwise-hateful-taxpayers are called upon to come to their rescue.
Cyprus's original predicament lies in that citizens were doubly burdened, both as taxpayers and depositors.

An affront to honest, hard-working people it was.
A grotesque, nameless and faceless breach of trust whose seriousness cannot be underrated or overstated enough.

A new deal has now been hammered out.
Reads like a meaningful improvement on previous ones.
Some thought was put into the savings of the 'little guy'.
In actual fact no more than upholding the Eurozone's own deposit insurance treshold.

While it may be acknowledged that no solution to Cyprus is equally painless, standing up for fairness must remain top of priorities. Understood as such by every single government official and head of international organizations concerned.
At all times. More so when problems become especially complex as is Cyprus's case today.

An island caught between a rock and a very hard place.

to the FT - Germany dominates the EU but it is not healthy

Germany's relative strength in the aftermath of a major financial crisis leading to a sovereign-debt crisis stems from factual evidence rather than virtuous political or intellectual principle.
It is most unfortunate that not even France - La France - could hold its ground from a position of internal strength.

Most European economies are now fundamentally weak - some weaker than others - most face exceptionally high levels of government debt and structurally unbalanced budgets.
In the Eurozone or outside of it only a handful of the 27 show some resilience partly dented by ongoing troubles elsewhere. A vicious circle set in to which new challenges piled on with a vengeance.

A multiple whammy that European economies - for the most part - aren't yet rallying from.
Many just barely gasping for breath or too busy fulfilling targets set by the Troika, others figuring where growth is to come from.

Germany, though facing a temporary slowdown, emerged naturally as the single big country still boasting a vast manufacturing base - able to respond quickly to any surge in demand from wherever.
The German State boasts generally balanced government books.
A creditor country whose vast trade and current account surpluses over many years are sustained by and adequately mirror its internal set-up.

Adjustment in other countries' economies (and societies) is a long term process by definition. It cannot happen overnight, less so when the downturn was/is exacerbated by austerity adopted by so many neighbours at the same time.
This has got to be a transition period to a new European order.
Germany's interests are best served if the EU thrives as a whole.

Every single Eurozone country - facing different problems, or same of differing magnitude some of which overlap - must strive to get their economies to generate wealth, thus growing out of their current predicament. 

None of it can be achieved by goodwill or decree but Europeans yearn for (and direly need)  EU-wide political inspiration they can review themselves in.

As it stands looks like that is asking too much.

to the FT - Cyprus hits the headlines for all the wrong reasons

An incredibly content-filled view brilliantly expressed by Gideon Rachman.

I am in full agreement as to the real issue now undermining the EU at a very complex crossroads in the path to "...an ever closer union."(?)

Trust is a priceless commodity, one that takes years to build and only minutes to crack.

Unless the top brass of European political, economic and social leadership show some vision and statesmanship I fail to see how much worse things may get before eventually starting to improve.

The financial and banking crisis is real and has so far been handled the way it has been.

One country after another stole the limelight generally for the wrong reasons.

Cyprus's turn came up now. It is easy to understand the far wider implications involved. These outweigh the island's geography and demography by a heavy margin.

The banking union in the Eurozone is incomplete but over the years no single entity took notice of the banking sector in Cyprus?

Its outsized nature, pulling-power for Russia's money spinners, dangerous ratios and more?

Who will stand-up for the average Cypriot citizen, on average incomes, with average savings made over many years, or few, of honest work and moderate spending?

The time has come for plain good sense - if uncommon - to be displayed by those entrusted with the government of nations as well as those leading major multinational institutions.

Cyprus may be small.

The individual Cypriot is the same size as the individual German, Dutch or Finn.

TEc - Sending their message - The Falkland Islands hit the headlines again

The Falklands' referendum result was never in any doubt nor the size of the Yes vote.
If anything, the only surprise is the 3 No votes reportedly cast.

The archipelago's long sovereignty dispute will linger on endlessly. It has been fought on entirely different arguments by both sides. Needless to go over them as State views by either party are well-known and have been reiterated time and again.

Popular feeling in Argentina towards de jure ownership of Las Malvinas - a French derived name by the way - runs very deep, irrespective of political leadership at any given time.
The UK on the other hand is hardly ready for any terms of discussion other than its own. This stance has hardened from 1982 after the country's victorious war was paid for in relevant blood and treasure.

Despite the Falklands being a faraway, windswept, thinly populated rather inhospitable outpost, it is likely to strike a sensitive British nerve if ever perceived to be under threat. Least of all a military one.
Besides, some investment has poured in and the existence of oil-rich waters surrounding the islands adds a new dimension to the equation.

Which equation anyway?