‘Euro Overvalued’

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The euro is apparently overvalued. Actually I happen to agree, but today this opion comes to us from a most surprising person: Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, at this point in time President of the European Union. Now I am surprised by this, since he is neither Economics commisioner, nor spokesperson for the ECB, so I am not clear why it is he feels himself compelled to express an opinion.

Really this just highlights the fact that the institutional labyrinth we have created is such that not even those who administer it have sufficient clarity about who is responsible for what. In theory his press conference was about the forthcoming budget negotiations, but judging by what he said, I’m not clear he got round to reading that memo from Barroso about maintaining a sense of calm.

Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who holds the European Union presidency, warned on Friday that failure to agree on a new long-term EU budget this month would turn a political problem into a full-blown crisis.

Juncker, who also chairs euro zone finance ministers, said the single currency shared by 12 EU countries had been weakened by the “No” votes to the European constitution in France and the Netherlands but was still overvalued compared to the dollar.

“A failure on the financial perspective (budget) would turn the big European difficulties (after the referendums) into a big European crisis,” he told a news conference.

“As a result of the referendums, the euro is weakened. What helps the economy for the moment could in the long term become a burden,” he said, adding: “I think the euro is overvalued in relation to the dollar.”

He also informed the press that he would resign as PM if, as expected, the Luxembourg referendum voted ‘no’ on July 10. Anybody seen an actual Luxembourg poll recently?

Denmark Poll: ‘No’ Takes Lead

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The EU observer is carrying details of a poll conducted in Denmark by Greens Analyseinstitut, and published in the Danish business daily B?rsen today (3 June), 39.5 per cent of Danes would reject the Constitution, 30.8 per cent would now approve the Constitution, while 29.7 per cent were undecided.

Calculating roughly, this means of those who have decided, 56% are against and 44% are in favour. Interestingly 63% want the right to vote. Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen – the EU Observer says – is reluctant to officially cancel the planned referendum scheduled for 27 September. This is an elemnt I hadn’t bargained on – the people demanding the right to express themselves. This could become a bandwagon which it gets difficult to stop. I guess it is what Barroso meant by ‘contagion’.

Maroni Update

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Here’s the FT’s reading of the situation.

Note this extract: “As financial markets digested the remarks of Roberto Maroni, Italy’s welfare minister, the interest rate differential between Italian and German bonds rose to 23 basis points, the widest spread since November 2002.”

These are the numbers we will be following at Afoe moving forward. Maroni is a member of a Northern xenophobic party that wants an independent country for the north of Italy. But *note*: he is in the government, and responsible for an important part of the Lisbon agenda, labour reform. So this is not some complete outside crank. Bottom line: Berlusconi’s government is an unstable coalation, and this very instability *is* cause for concern, especially since we have just seen mainstream politicians lose important votes in two of Europe’s more stable democracies.

One more irrelevant detail:
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Italian Referendum Call

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But in this case the vote would be about Italy’s continuing membership of the euro-zone, rather than the EU constitution. Now before going any further, I feel the need to advise extreme caution in the face of such developments.

In the first place the call comes from the Italian Labor Minister – and member of the separatist Liga Del Norte – Robert Maroni: It was made in an interview published by the Italian newspaper La Repubblica. He was not making a statement on behalf of the government, he was in all probability ‘electioneering’. (See Fran’s post: those politicians).

On the other hand, Berlusconi is pretty vulnerable at the moment, remember he has just put together a new coalition, and elections are coming next year.
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Your Next Car ‘Made in China’?

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China is getting into car manufacture in a big way, but before going further with this, let me sidetrack you to another article in today’s FT. Here you will find two interesting details. Firstly, according to Arthur Kroeber, of China Economic Quarterly, ?Since 2003, China has gone from being a net importer of capital goods to being a net exporter”. I’m still loking for some confirmation of this, but if true, it is very significant. The other detail: overcapacity means there is a continuing price war in China, and factory gate prices are falling. This point needs to be borne in mind by all those who imagine a rise in the value of the Renminbi would produce a comparative increase in ‘mark to market’ prices for consumers. I’m with Morgan Stanley’s Andy Xie here, overcapacity is likely to be such that the ‘pass through’ rate would be minimal, most of the on-costs being absorbed by an ever more deflationary environment in China.

Interestingly enough, Jean Claude Trichet gave three arguments, at the end of his press conference yesterday, in order to justify the urgent necessity for the Lisbon Agenda: ageing, technological changes, and growing global competition (or labour arbitrage in Stephen Roach’s language). I couldn’t agree more.

Now for the cars. Yale Global has reproduced an interesantissimo supplement from the FT:

Automakers may see China as a growing market, but soon they may face unexpected competition from a number of manufacturers who are seeking to export to the West, as well. Several Chinese companies have already begun a trial run in the Middle East to prepare for the US market, the goal of more than two decades of attempts to build a competitive car industry. The Chinese companies will encounter numerous obstacles and opponents ? including the multinational companies that currently dominate the global markets ? but if successful, they could reshape the auto industry. Because the economies of countries like the US and Germany depend heavily on the auto industry, the implications of such a move are substantial. How will the West respond?

Read-on here

Some Good News

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For once, small but good:

Growth in European service industries, which account for about one-third of the euro-region economy, unexpectedly accelerated in May to the fastest pace in seven months.

An index based on a survey of about 2,000 purchasing managers of companies including airlines and banks compiled by NTC Research Ltd. for Reuters Group Plc rose to 53.5 from 52.8 in April. The median forecast by 27 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a decline to 52.5. A reading above 50 indicates expansion.

‘Those Politicians’

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Last Monday I had some ironing to do. Then I remembered that television still has one advantage over surfer-blogging: you can do the ironing at the same time. Of course the upcoming referendum was on several channels. I could not stand more than 20 minutes of it though (neither the ironing nor the tv). The various program presenters seemed to want to make it look like this was a political *debate as usual*, or so it seemed. National politicians dominated the guest lists. And most of them did what we expect from them nowadays: instead of seriously and conscientiously considering arguments, the majority of them seemed more intent on achieving a high score in something resembling a high-school debating-contest. Television comes in handy here.

In fact one of these *debates* was actually organized like a contest. Six politicians were invited. On every issue two of them went into a direct confrontation and the 6-minute sessions were immediately followed by a ‘flash vote’. And the winner is…
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When No Means Maybe

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Sometimes, just sometimes, being a journalist is hard. War correspondants, political columnists pressured to ‘firm-up’ an elusive source‘, BBC reporters, the list of those who could rightly complain is probably endless. But amongst the most challanging of the many missions which may occasion their way into the in-tray must, undoubtedly, be that of interpreting the intentionally elusive language of the central banker. Yesterday was there was a good case in point. ECB President Trichet actually said:

?I am not telling you anything that could be interpreted as preparing a rate cut,?

Now buried deep within the lexicon of obscurantism which governs central bank policy interpretation must be one which reads: when they say ‘a’ they mean ‘b’, since today we find this: Trichet signals ECB could cut rates

So, just to help you out, I’ll explain how this particular journalist probably reached this particular reading: by a process called backward reading. The FT’s Ralph Atkins must be convinced, just as I am, that the ECB will be forced (by both political pressure and by economic realities) to cut rates later in the year. So reading backwards, Trichet, who must himself be aware that the arguments for a rate cut may become compelling, was, of course, preparing the ground. What he couldn’t do yesterday, not under any circumstances,was give any indication whatsoever that he was ceding to the impact of the recent votes. Strange world, that of the banker, and that of the journalist come to think of it.

Clueless In and Out of Brussels

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We’re still all waiting really. Waiting to know what the next move really in the saga is going to be (Iceland isn’t in the community yet, if I remember correctly). Staring into the tea-leaves and casting a wary eye over towards Brussels, looking desperately for clues.

What this continuing lack of definition really does is make matters worse., compound the problem. It re-inforces exactly that feeling of being ‘left out of things’ that probably produced the ‘no’ votes in the first place. This isn’t very promising if you were hoping that at least the rejection of the constitution at the ballot box would act as a kind of ‘shock therapy’, now is it?

However, according to the rumours:
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ECB Holds Rates at 2%

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The European Central Bank held its main refinancing rate constant at 2% for the 24th consecutive month this afternoon. No real surprise here. Perhaps the most revealing comment has been: “Whether others like it or not, the ECB isn?t an activist central bank,? a view offered to the Financial Times by one Julian Jessop, economist at Capital Economics.

The FT also points out that: “the 5.5 per cent slide in the euro to $1.226 against the dollar since the ECB?s last meeting may have done some of the Bank?s work for it. The weakening of the euro is stimulative to growth in the same way a rate cut would be, and, if it persists, is likely to be an upward drag on eurozone inflation“.

We will see. The euro has had a much calmer day today, clawing back this morning most of the ground lost in hectic trading last night. It is currently going for around $1.2279 in a fairly volatile afternoon.

The – oh they’ve all gone quiet over there – European Commission seems determined to sit things out till the June Summit, while Barroso appeals for calm:.

“?What I am asking for now is that political leaders, in particular government chiefs, not take individual, or unilateral decisions. I ask political leaders to show responsibility, to show caution”

Jean-Claude – into the valley of death rode the 600 – Juncker, Luxembourg’s prime minister and holder of the rotating EU presidency, continued to insist ratification should go forward as planned. Since Luxembourg is to have the next scheduled referendum, it will be interesting to see whether he in fact leads the troops more than the statutory ‘half a league’.

Europolitix has it that behind the scenes (and this is really the problem about how we do politics in Europe) a revolt is brewing amongst those who would be asked to follow Junker’s noble sacrifice: Poland, Denmark, Ireland, the Czech Republic, and, of course, the UK.