July 10, 2014

Do we need to use force to make Mario Draghi and ECB to accept urgently needed structural reforms in bank regulations?

Sir, Claire Jones and Peter Spiegel report that ECB’s Mario Draghi has called for Brussels to “Use force to secure economic reform” meaning “structural reforms… they believe would strengthen longer-term growth prospects”, July 10.

ECB should be ashamed of itself. If there is any structural reform that is urgent that is getting rid of those crazy risk-weighted capital requirements for banks which are hindering credit to reach those we most need to have it now, namely medium and small businesses, entrepreneurs and start-ups.

And I guess the main reason for the ECB not to be pushing for that is it would signify Mario Draghi admitting have been part to one of the most monstrous regulatory mistakes ever.

There’s a world of difference between ex ante perceived risks and ex-post realized risks.