Stark warning on euro

WHEN Germany’s top representative at the European Central Bank quit his posting as member of the ECB Executive Board and as its de facto chief economist, it caused a shudder across world financial markets.

The departure of Jürgen Stark, a well known fiscal and monetary hawk was spectacularly ill-timed, coming at the end of a period when stock markets across Europe were plummeting amid growing indications that Greece was about to default on its huge sovereign debts.

As he left the building, Stark fired a few parting words of advice in the direction of the Irish Government, suggesting that it needed to implement further cuts in public service salaries and social welfare, and to act more decisively to get ahead of the curve when it comes to reining in public spending.