The Curious Capitalist
Commentary on the economy, the markets, and business
Is the euro zone headed for an Arab Spring?
Posted by Michael Schuman Thursday, May 26, 2011
The title of this post may make some of you suspect that I'm smoking something. How can I think genteel Europe could see public upheaval massive enough to overthrow long-entrenched, democratic regimes, in the way Arab countries have witnessed popular movements upset the political order? Well, maybe the Europeans aren't ready to storm the Bastille, so to speak, but more and more of them are in revolt against the euro zone, or more specifically, the policies imposed in a (so far fruitless) attempt to quell its debt crisis. That dissent is taking place at the highest levels of the euro zone's leadership as well. The consequences of this growing resentment and disagreement could be dire – they are making the debt crisis harder to fix, heightening the cost of resolving it, and increasing the chances that eventually members of the monetary union will decide their fortunes would be better without the euro. Here's what I mean:
Since the beginning of the euro zone debt crisis 18 months ago, there has never been anything close to consensus within Europe's capitals over what to do about it. The dissension began over whether or not to bail out Greece, and has since continued over how to finally squelch the contagion that spread to other weak euro zone economies. Some, like Luxembourg's outspoken Prime Minister, Jean-Claude Juncker, have advocated for steps that would integrate the zone further; others, such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel, have resisted taking on more responsibility for their euro zone partners and have hoisted the burden onto the struggling, debt-heavy nations themselves. The divisions have made Europe's response to the crisis tepid and insufficient, a perpetual case of too little, too late.
Full article: http://curiouscapitalist.blogs.time.com/2011/05/26/is-the-euro-zone-headed-for-an-arab-spring/
Gold is $1,581/oz today. When it hits $2,000, it will be up 26.5%. Let's see how long that takes. - De 3/11/2013 - ANSWER: 7 Years, 5 Months
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