Since the start of Europe’s debt crisis in 2009, there has been a steady drumbeat of predictions that the euro is doomed. The problems were too intractable, the debts too large, the political will too feeble. So far, the doomsayers have been wrong. The leaders of Europe have managed to put a bandage here and a few stitches there to keep the monetary union together. But now we really have to ask if the game is up. The years of half-measures, misguided policy and delusional stubbornness may finally be building up to crush the euro, like a cartoon snowball rolling downhill. Financial markets are clearly smelling an approaching debacle — the euro this week hit its lowest level against the dollar since mid-2010.
(PARIS) — The 17-country euro zone risks falling into a “severe recession,” the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development warned on Tuesday, as it called on governments and Europe’s central bank to act quickly to keep the slowdown from dragging down the global economy.
World leaders have gathered this weekend for the G-8 summit. Here’s a portion of my recent interview with Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group and author of “Every Nation for Itself: Winners and Losers in a G-Zero World.” Read more: G-8 or G-Zero? Why the West No Longer Sets the Global Agenda
So voters in France and Greece sent an inescapable signal to the euro zone: No more austerity. In doing so, they showed that the average guy on the street understands economics better than the people in power. Rather than reducing debt and returning the European economy to health, the all-austerity approach to solving the debt [...]
There have been many flaws in Europe’s strategy to resolve its ongoing debt crisis: The unreasonable obsession with austerity. The persistent reluctance to commit sufficient financial resources. The stubborn rejection of important tools like eurobonds. But perhaps the most misguided notion of all was the apparent assumption among European leaders that voters would meekly accept [...]
NEW YORK (AP) — News that Spain’s economy entered another recession renewed worries about the fragility of Europe’s finances on Monday and nudged stocks lower. The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 35 points to 13,192 shortly after noon Eastern. The Spanish government said that country’s economy shrank 0.3 percent in the first three months of [...]
The euro means more to Europe than mere mathematical calculations of debt and growth can tell us, and the leaders and voters of the euro zone value the common currency based on what it means to Europe as much as what it does for Europe.
As China’s high-octane economy shifts into lower gear, virtually everyone agrees that the double-digit, super-charged boom years are drawing to a close.
Anyone out there who thinks the euro zone debt crisis is over – and you know who you are – should take a good look at what’s going on in Spain. If Italy represented the biggest threat to the euro in 2011, then Spain will be the big story of 2012. Whatever numbers you look [...]
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 for the debt-stricken government but also some much needed debt relief. A hefty chunk of the new bailout package will [...]
