Any hope that last Thursday’s debt crisis agreement would finally quell the contagion raging through the euro zone was dashed almost before the ink dried. Only a day later, Italy’s borrowing costs actually rose to a euro-era high in a bond auction, a clear sign that investors were far from certain that the debt deal was a game …
Sometimes I think the euro zone debt crisis is like watching a remake of the Bill Murray classic Groundhog Day, with the screenplay written by Financial Times correspondents. I wake up and read the news coming from Europe: worries mount about a Greek default, contagion spreads across the continent, the euro zone leaders are lost in …
There are two Internets in the world today. The first is the one you are probably using right now to read this post, through which you can connect with people around the world, surf for whatever information you want and blog at will. This Internet is a key tool for businesses to enhance productivity, for people to educate themselves …
The leaders of the euro zone held an important conference on Sunday to try, once again, to resolve its destabilizing debt crisis. And though a final agreement wasn’t reached — and probably won’t be until Wednesday — we can already read the writing on the wall. The new grand agreement is likely to be dead on arrival.
Why so? On …
One of the great mysteries of economic history concerns how the Islamic world lost its mojo. A thousand years ago, the Middle East was richer and more influential in the global economy than Europe. According to data compiled by the late economist and statistical wizard Angus Maddison, the Middle East accounted for about 9.5% of global …
So after creating a giant kerfuffle on Tuesday by voting down much-needed measures to expand the powers of the euro zone’s $1 trillion bailout fund, Slovakia’s parliament reversed course and voted for those very same reforms a mere two days later. That means the euro zone can now use the European Financial Stability Facility (or …
If the recent Dexia bank collapse showed the fragility of the euro zone’s financial system, then the shocking collapse of Slovakia’s government on Tuesday shows the fragility of its political system. Slovakia’s parliament unexpectedly voted against a decision reached by euro zone leaders in July to expand the powers of its $1 …
So it’s official. The French-Belgian specialty bank Dexia is the first financial institution to fall victim to Europe’s debt crisis. In a deal hammered out by the governments of France, Belgium and Luxembourg, Dexia will be dismantled, with the Belgian government nationalizing the local operations of the bank. Taxpayers are also …
At first glance, the question that serves as the title of this post might sound a tad ridiculous. After all, Steve Jobs, no matter how talented, was just one man in charge of one company in a $14.6 trillion economy. How can the …
As Apple fans mourn the unfortunate loss of Steve Jobs, the great innovator will be remembered most of all for how his ideas changed people’s lives. But in the world of business, he will also be honored as an absolutely …
In the clearest indication yet that Europe’s sovereign debt crisis is morphing into a wider, financial sector crisis, a big European bank might be looking at a break up. The talk in Europe is that French-Belgian specialty lender Dexia could be dismantled, with healthy units sold off and other assets dumped into a “bad bank.” None …
Mort Zuckerman repeated a charge in the Financial Times this week that President Barack Obama is “anti-business” and that is why the U.S. recovery remains anemic and corporate America isn’t hiring. Here’s a bit of what the editor of U.S. News & World Report had to say:
The fear is that a double-dip, or worse, is now upon us.
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