Defenceless? Austerity is hollowing out Europe’s armies

December 28, 2013 Leave a comment

Defenceless? Austerity is hollowing out Europe’s armies

Dec 21st 2013 | From the print edition

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HOW quickly the need to cut deficits is reducing the European Union’s military ambitions. When EU leaders held a summit to discuss defence five years ago there was heady talk of being able to deploy 60,000 troops within 60 days. Today the objective is to get overstretched troops home from Afghanistan as budgets are cut. The EU is meant to have two “battle groups” of 1,500 men apiece ready to deploy at short notice, but it can barely muster one—and none has ever been used. Read more of this post

Filed under Macro Trends

Here’s why Canada’s big banks keep on winning; There are was a lot of talk at the start of the year about the Great White Short, as some hedge funds bet against the Canadian banks. That didn’t work out so well

December 28, 2013 Leave a comment

Here’s why Canada’s big banks keep on winning

John Shmuel | December 27, 2013 | Last Updated: Dec 27 2:53 PM ET
Better luck next year to those who shorted Canadian banks.

There are was a lot of talk at the start of the year about the Great White Short, as some hedge funds bet against the Canadian banks on the expectation that a slowing Canadian economy would hit financials hard. Read more of this post

Filed under Macro Trends

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