Originally Posted by
gear
I couldn't possibly speak with any authority on how things are going in Europe because I only get over there every other year or so, you'd need to be there much more often than that to make a valid assessment. But I do live in the US and it sure seems like things have been better on a financial level than they are now. I'm not sure the unregulated market place thing is going so good.
I haven't been there for some 12 years. The authority I speak with is Der Spegel, The WSJ, Wash. Times, Wash Post, Weekly standard, The telegraph, and a few other on-line news sources which I peruse daily. I doubt I could possibly learn as much by an on-scene presence.
S & P downgraded Italy's credit rating yesterday. Greece interest rates on their bonds is like 90% they are such a bad credit risk. The French are afraid of a downgrade due to their highly leveraged banks (Greek debt) and it's touch and go for Spain and Portugal.
The big issue now is how much Germany will do to bail out the week economies before they default and will the EU float some kind of bond to support the bailout as well or will the EU split into a tiered arrangement and let those who's debt is overwhelming fend for themselves. Not being a fan of wealth redistribution, I vote for the later.
What happens over there doesn't stay there like in Vegas. It affects our economy as well.
Al