That’s the $64,000 question, particularly for the U.S. presidential elections – if things keep improving, it’s only good news for Obama. The economy has been on a roll this year, with unemployment down, consumer and …
Europe
Can a Second Bailout Save Greece?
After months of delays, arguments and doubts, euro-zone finance ministers agreed on a second, $170 billion bailout of beleaguered Greece in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The agreement will not only provide fresh financing …
What Happens if Greece Doesn’t Get a Bailout?
After the Greek Parliament on Sunday passed yet another package of austerity measures demanded by its euro-zone neighbors — this one worth $4.4 billion — the path seemed clear to finalizing a long-delayed, second bailout of …
Are We Already Planting the Seeds of the Next Financial Crisis?
Central banks are trying to revive weak economies by injecting large amounts of money. That policy helps in the short run, but easy money can also create the conditions for future booms and busts.
Europe’s Debt Crisis: Back from the Brink?
So it looks like Greece will dodge a default, at least for now. The Greek parliament passed a new $4.4 billion austerity package on Sunday, which includes a painful 22% cut in the minimum wage and 150,000 public sector job …
Why the Greek Bailout Doesn’t Change Much of Anything
Thursday’s deal is supposed to allow Greece to avoid default and prevent the Eurozone from breaking up – but the deal isn’t final, it can’t work, and the real problems lie elsewhere.
TIME’s Interview With Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti
This week’s edition of TIME International features an interview with Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti (subscribers can read the story here). In the mean time, check out our video interview with Italy’s new leader.
Three Economic Lessons Imported From Turkey
I just returned from a week in Istanbul, where I was reporting a piece on what Turkey’s burgeoning contemporary art scene tells us about where the country is headed politically (you can look for that in our upcoming style and …
Euro Banks Swap Cash for Trash
Cheap loans being offered by the European Central Bank to help reflate the Eurozone are encouraging some banks to boost their profits by loading up on risky bonds.
Why the Latest Euro Zone Debt-Crisis Agreement Shows How Europe Just Doesn’t Get It
I just landed in Rome for some on-the-ground reporting on the latest twists and turns in the euro-zone debt crisis, and I immediately got some sound insights from our reporter here, Stephan Faris. Faris watches the situation in …
My Top Five Takeaways from Davos
One of the challenges of covering the World Economic Forum at Davos as a journalist is making sense of the whole thing. The forum is days and days of wandering conversations and endless debates on just about every subject you can …
Why the Eurozone Can’t Just Muddle Through
There’s a growing optimism that the common European currency can be saved, but the numbers argue that this is unrealistic.
