“What surprised me when I became minister of finance was that we had the debt situation, but nobody wanted to talk about it. We need to first explain how we got into this position before we can talk about how we will get out of it.”
Thierry Breton, French finance minister, explains his approach to reducing France’s debt burden at Euromoney’s Euro Fixed Income Forum in Paris in late November
“There is no confidence in the future, there is no confidence in the sustainability of public finances, and no confidence in the ability of policymakers to solve the problems.” Jürgen Stark, Deutsche Bundesbank vice-president, warns the new government that Germans are still anxious, despite an improving economic picture
“Like putting lipstick on a pig.” Gimme Credit analyst Shelly Lombard’s assessment of GM’s latest restructuring plans
“I must not use the word ‘solutions’. It’s just the new word for products.”
Michael Maslinski of private wealth management consultants Maslinski & Co is wise to the banking industry’s latest semantic subterfuge