Five Things that Worked in 2011 Foretell 2012
2011 will go down as a good year for very few of us. Suspense, crisis, loss, frustration, and anxiety seemed to lie everywhere one turned. What better time to remind ourselves of a few developments during the year that are…
The War in Europe Escalates—No Guns, Just Butter
It took exactly two days for European markets to cast a negative vote on the agreement eurozone countries reached in Brussels last week. It took a couple more for the eurozone countries to begin bickering with Britain, that is isolated…
Britain is Odd Man Out in Europe’s ‘New Deal’
You cannot fault the Europeans for their timing. The agreement reached in Brussels on the euro last Friday came 20 years to the day after European leaders signed the treaties that created the single currency. And the pact euro zone…
Euro Zone Debacle: This Week Could End the Crisis
This could well be the week the eurozone crisis advances toward a credible resolution. We have heard this before, so it is too soon to exhale, but if all goes according to plan, a way through Europe’s currency and economic…
Save the Euro! The Risky Option that Could Work
Last week was miserable for those hoping the eurozone holds together and its 17 members remain part of the world’s first common-currency union. The bad news kept coming straight through Thanksgiving. But does it all add up to the collapse…
3 Reasons to Bet the Euro Deal Will Work
Global stock markets today are reflecting the many uncertainties that still surround the eurozone rescue package European Union leaders announced in Brussels late last week. It is not yet clear how some of the EU’s plans will be financed, and…
High Global Anxiety as Europe Still Has No Plan
Get ready for a tense week—yes, another one. If Europeans meet their own deadline, by the end of next weekend, when a summit of European Unionleaders is to convene in Brussels, we will see Europe’s proposed solution to its debt…
Euro Crisis: How to Stop the Contagion
Even a couple of months ago, the idea that Greece would be forced to default on its debt and exit the eurozone seemed some kind of distant horror. Now both seem all too near as possibilities. What was a short…
Europe: The Strings Attached to a Chinese Bailout
Will your children—or maybe even you—someday find it perfectly natural to put the household savings into the Chinese yuan because it is the world’s safest, steadiest currency? That thought would have been unimaginable even a few months ago. Now we…
Decline of America: Have We Given Away the Store?
The past weeks of wrenching volatility in the financial markets and the evident confusion in both Europe and the U.S. over how to avoid tipping into a double-dip recession — or a straight-out depression — have once again brought the…
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