Mario Draghi cannot launch QE without German political assent

It is surely wishful thinking to suppose that the ECB is ready to launch full-fledged QE at its meeting this week, given its political make-up

Nobel economists say policy blunders pushing Europe into depression

German Chancellor Angela Merkel defends eurozone and says it is hard to manage a currency for 18 states

Italy's Renzi must bring back the lira to end depression

It is an incontrovertible fact that Italy’s 14-year disaster coincides with EMU membership

France rebels against austerity as Europe's recovery collapses

France’s finance minister sends tremors through European capitals with a defiant warning that his country would no longer try to meet deficit targets

Oil industry on borrowed time as switch to gas and solar accelerates

There may be little point battling icebergs to drill in the Arctic, or in trying to extract oil from the ultra-deepwater fields in the mid-Atlantic, beneath layers of salt, three kilometres into the Earth

HOME»FINANCE»OIL PRICES Petrol prices expected to fall after Saudis open the oil taps

Joy for motorists after the cost of a barrel of crude oil reached its lowest level this year thanks to a glut of crude from Saudi Arabia

Russia vulnerable as oil prices hit nine-month low on IEA 'glut' warnings

Stockpile creates extra layer of protection against any possible supply shock from Russia and Iraq

Oil and gas company debt soars to danger levels to cover shortfall in cash

Energy businesses are selling assets and took on $106bn in net debt in the year to March

China explores bond buying in first hint of QE

Officials have been clamping down on credit to puncture the property bubble but are clearly having second thoughts as money supply weakens and bad debts accumulate

Iraq’s civil war threatens structure of global energy supply for years

Brent crude jumped above $113 a barrel as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant raced towards Baghdad

Japan to keep printing money for years to come, so learn to enjoy it

The Bank of Japan will have to mop up the entire issuance of public debt for years to come, covering the budget deficit with printed money

The nagging fear that QE itself may be causing deflation

The European Central Bank looks poised to cut the discount rate below zero on Thursday, becoming the first of the monetary superpowers to venture into these uncharted waters

Mario Draghi takes historic gamble with negative rates but still stops short of QE

ECB's revolutionary move aims to force banks to pay a charge if they continue to park money for safe-keeping in Frankfurt

Russia's gas king taunts crumbling Europe over China pipeline coup

Gazprom's chairman has describing Europe's energy shortage as "scary" and ridiculed the EU's push for wind and solar power as a shambles

Europe at risk of blackouts, warns IEA

International Energy Agency warns that the EU will lose a quarter of its electricity over the next decade as old power stations are shut down

Eight EU states in deflation as calls grow for QE in Sweden

Sweden’s Riksbank admitted in its latest monetary report that something unexpected had gone wrong

US financial showdown with Russia is more dangerous than it looks, for both sides

The US Treasury faces a more formidable prey with Russia, the world's biggest producer of energy with a $2 trillion economy, superb scientists and a first-strike nuclear arsenal

Germany risks EU fines with record current account surplus

Wise Men say country's external surplus will keep rising to a modern-era high of 7.9pc of GDP this year, far above the 6pc limit set by Brussels

Top economists warn Germany that EMU crisis as dangerous as ever

Council on Foreign Relations compares Germany's hardline stance with US policy towards Britain at the end of the Second World War

Gold funds hit 2008 level ahead of US Fed action

Holdings of gold in exchange traded funds (ETFs) around the world have fallen back to levels last seen before the global financial crisis in 2008

Emerging market rout turns serious, punctures exuberance in Davos

IMF's deputy-director says the Fund is watching the violent gyrations around the world "very carefully"

Japan's recovery at risk of stalling on 'premature' tax rise fears Nobel economist Stiglitz

Nobel laureate warns that Japan's premier is pursuing a "risky strategy" by raising the consumption tax from 5pc to 8pc in April

IMF warns Fed could worsen markets rout

Christine Lagarde, the IMF’s managing director, said spill-over effects from Fed bond tapering could destabilise vulnerable countries that have failed to rein in imbalances

Crippled eurozone to face fresh debt crisis this year, warns ex-ECB strongman Axel Weber

Ex-Bundesbank head Axel Weber expects fresh market attacks on eurozone this year and economist Kenneth Rogoff says the euro was a "giant historic mistake"