Frankfurt changes tack as its troubles move closer to home
The ECB is shifting its focus, as the economic woes of Europe's richer countries become more evident.
The once widespread acronym PIIGS (Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain) is now rarely used. A decoupling has taken place, with pre-reform and post-reform countries considered separately. Following deep dives by the EU/ECB/IMF troika, both Ireland and Greece are now seen by analysts as being in the post-reform category. Debt levels are still high, but there are unlikely to be any major surprises.
In the case of Spain, the troika did come to ...
