Euro crisis: the twilight zone

English: Various Euro bills. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editorial – So now we know what €100bn buys you: five days. It’s taken less than a week for financial markets to pass judgment on Spain‘s bumper rescue package – and they’ve pronounced it a failure.

Euroland has finally entered the twilight zone: an extraordinary, frightening situation has been visited upon ordinary folk in 17 countries, who now await a dreadfully macabre twist. This judgment can be defended in two ways. First, Spain is now paying over 7% for a 10-year loan – the interest-rate level reached by Greece, Ireland and Portugal at which they were each forced to seek a lifeline from the IMF and Europe.

The next big turn in the eurozone saga is not far away. Greece holds another general election this weekend, and whichever party or coalition emerges from it will be forced to demand a relaxation of its austerity program. more> http://tinyurl.com/7jedpwx

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• Greece voters face tough choices at polls, Anthee Carassava, Los Angeles Times
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Comparing U.S. and Euro Crises

By Elliott Morss – And I ask you: after all the experience the IMF has had, how could it have been roped into pushing a German austerity plan in Greece so severe and complex that it had no chance of working? And as I have reported, the strong Euro nations are now angry because the IMF is finally saying austerity in the “weak sister” Euro countries won’t work. Why did it take so long for the IMF to catch on?

For better or worse, we have a useful frame of reference for what is now happening in Europe – the US bank collapse followed by the global recession. In Table 3, indicates what happened then to the global economy. more> http://is.gd/qi0bBN

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• Germany’s Role in Europe and the European Debt Crisis, George Friedman, Townhall Finance
• Forget The Details, The End Of The European Crisis Is In Sight, Macro Man, Business Insider
• The Politics of the Euro Crisis, Philip Stephens, Center for European Policy Analysis
• S.Korea exports shock, inflation dips as euro crisis bites, Yoo Choonsik and Christine Kim, Reuters
• EU Nears Greek Confrontation Amid Fiscal Pact, James G. Neuger and Jonathan Stearns, Bloomberg
• Greek Debt Talks Risk Derailing EU Summit, Patrick Donahue, Bloomberg