Is Europe bringing out the bazooka yet?
Davos, Switzerland (CNN) – “Bazooka” is competing for word of the year so far. As in, Europe needs to bring out its big bazooka to deal with the debt crisis in which it has been embroiled for nearly two years now.
Mexican President Felipe Calderon, head of the G20 group of countries, brandished the word with gusto at the World Economic Forum in Davos, declaring “we need to take out the bazooka immediately before the powder gets wet.”
Calderon compared the European situation to the economic crisis in Mexico in 1995. That crisis – referred to as “the first financial crisis of the twenty-first century” – exploded after a boom time and the influx of capital. The country was then bailed by the International Monetary Fund, and another country’s money – in this case the U.S. So far, so familiar.
Calderon pointed to the return of confidence that followed the international aid package, noting the same needed to occur in Europe. “The problem is not the money, the problem is the confidence,” he said.
And this is true. The capital markets – the investors who dictate the price of eurozone’s funding costs – have been losing confidence in the bloc’s ability to create a viable route out of the crisis. Hence, the rising costs of funding Italy; and the unrealistic funding costs of Greece, Ireland and Portugal (check our eurozone crisis map for details).
The world now knows the bazooka entails saving Greece, and building a firewall around Italy so the eurozone’s third largest economy doesn’t collapse the entire bloc. The target is clear. But where’s the weapon?
The bazooka had a flirt with the capital markets last year, when there was speculation Europe’s bail-out fund would be turbo-charged into a pot of EUR1 trillion. Markets rose on that idea, but then retreated when it was clear it had stalled.
Now, the fiscal compact is to be the savior of Europe. But still the funding costs of troubled eurozone countries remain unpleasantly high and the deal is far from signed off.
Pressure has been building on the European Central Bank to increase its sovereign debt buying program, but its president Mario Draghi gave no indication that was going to happen when he spoke at the forum. Instead, he pointed to the need for European countries to trust each other. The fiscal compact, he noted, was a “the first step, though timid, though hesitating, toward a fiscal union.”
But even if the ECB massively increased its buying program, would that be a bazooka?
Perhaps German Chancellor Angela Merkel said it best in her opening speech. Referring to the increasing funds being injected to the eurozone’s bail-out funds – and with clear frustration – she said: "People say it has to be double, then it has to be triple, then we will believe you."
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Tagged with: bazooka • Bringing • Europe
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for people who is complaining about the image size, its about time to invest in a new computer and a better ISP. This is 2012 and the average pc has 4 gig ram and 1 gig video and i7 processor on the low end,
What people doesn't know is that the bazooka is already out, ECB is desperately buying bonds out of sight. Look at the Italian yield and tell me who is buying. Investors looking for another haircut or the ECB????
I know the US media would like Europe to build massive debt by promising Trillions but as Merkel, Sarkozy and van Rompuy etc say. Europe will take it step by step to improve fundamentals. This will take years to build and improve upon. But it`s already looking more stable then a 1 or 2 years ago. The Fiscal compact is about to be signed and will be put into place in the following months. The EU will get actual powers to oversee and correct member budgets. This will be followed by the new permanent stability mechanism. And the soon to be announced extra job creation projects by the EU. Many other projects are ongoing to improve European fundamentals but most importantly Europe is also slashing budgets to live within it`s means. All the US has done so far is borrow more and more having their debt now reach over 15 Trillion. Let them laugh all they want. They will get into trouble with that quickly rising debt sooner or later.
See the elephant is dying and die a very sad situation
http://www.bestofthebestofall.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=1163
Yes, a 5058×3130 and 2.56 MB image is completely necessary. It helps show the awesomeness of the explosion. Too bad it's not in color.
Can somebody please change the picture? That's not a bazooka. It's really distracting us from the article I guess.
CNN has good articles, Blue, but the problem is whoever does the headlines and pictures. They're too often wrong or very misleading. But hey, in all fairness, you have a ton of variety here: science, foreign policy, economics, historical, etc. news, it's hard to get it all right… Some uni needs to offer an MAE, or a Master of Arts in Everything for whoever has the news website job.
Buddy, this is not a bazooka but a recoil-less rifle on that picture. Another fail by CNN….
Who cares. Europe is irrelevant
First the media sent us all a doomsday message of how our economy is going to collapse, of how we need to tighten our belts, of how China is going to take over the world. Then, after prophesying all this doom and gloom, the media sends reports mabout how it's a lack of confidence in the western market that 's causing the damage.
Well, The media who are blaming a loss of confidence on our economic situation are primarily responsible for the problem. I didn't know about the recession and the loss of consumer confidence until the media told me
so. I question the extent to which this supposed crisis would have happened, had the news not known about this.
Dear media, the people trust you more than they should. Give the americans some kind of hopeful incentive or credit for the charitable work they do. Stop sending the message that America is hopeless and China is going to rule the world. Otherwise it makes you look like you're paid by the Chinese.
Yep, you can think of Mexico not doing so well these days, but you should think twice and look at how controlled is the debt they have compared to any of the troubled Europe folks….and even the US.