Ruffer: Democracy may be pitfall for Europe in 2012

The public's willingness to accept economic reform may be a greater problem for Europe this year than the stubbornness of the ECB, according to the managers of the Ruffer Investment Company.

Chief executive Jonathan Ruffer (pictured) and directors Hamish Baillie and Steve Russell, who manage the £264m trust, said the three-year refinancing facility offered by the ECB in December demonstrated a more accommodative attitude from the central bank. "The ECB's balance sheet expanded by a massive 45% in the second half of 2011 and we can expect more of the same in 2012," the managers said. "Democracy may be the pitfall for Europe in 2012 as governments try to push economic reforms past their electorates - this will be a hard sell both within the core and the periphery of Europe"...