The past week has seen a raft of news with big implications for several individual countries and the global economy as a whole.

ECB President, Mario Draghi, has now unveiled the long-awaited ECB plan for purchasing bonds. The announcement of the scheme, called Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT), combined with the news that the German Constitutional court gave its seal of approval to the ESM gave financial markets considerable relief. We question this optimism as ultimately OMT does not safeguard the euro or solve its problems. We explain why.

Elsewhere, we have had labour market data for both the US and UK. The US figures disappointed while the UK once again increased employment, despite falling output. The US labour market continues to suffer from structural weaknesses which raise concerns over a long lasting impact on the US economy. The UK, meanwhile, has its own ‘labour market puzzle’ of increasing employment and falling output. Could banking sector fragility contain the answer?

OMT unveiled but not the bazooka to solve the euro’s problems

US job growth slows while unemployment drifts down. Concerns over long lasting weakness

UK employment increases. Misallocation of capital and the financial sector could explain the UK productivity conundrum

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