The Economist (August 20)
Europe’s leaders and, in particular, Angela Merkel correctly sense the lack of domestic support needed to fix the euro zone crisis. What they overlook is the need to cultivate this support. Half-measures will not work and a euro zone collapse would be damaging. “The current rescue plan for the euro is just not working. The markets continue to price in default…. A year ago it was said that the euro zone could take care of two or three small countries but that Spain was too big to fail. Today, with Italy and even France looming into the picture, the very survival of the euro is coming into question.”
Fortune (August 19)
As for the European debt crisis, you can “expect more trouble.” Leaders have failed to provide “action that’s a step ahead of the markets…. Time has been wasted defending the indefensible before giving in to the inevitable…. Solutions that might have worked a few months earlier become insufficient as the contagion hits more countries.” All of this means the problems keep growing and “a wider, more expensive response is required.”
