The Whole World is Watching

Paul Krugman warnt ja schon seit längerem.

Schon das Ausmaß der Häme, die die republikanische Rechte über ihn ausschüttet und sich zB. darüber verwundert zeigt, wofür er denn seinen Nobelpreis gewonnen habe, spricht dafür, daß man seinen Standpunkt überaus ernst nehmen sollte.

[…]

Financial turmoil in Europe is no longer a problem of small, peripheral economies like Greece. What’s under way right now is a full-scale market run on the much larger economies of Spain and Italy. At this point countries in crisis account for about a third of the euro area’s G.D.P., so the common European currency itself is under existential threat.

And all indications are that European leaders are unwilling even to acknowledge the nature of that threat, let alone deal with it effectively.

[…]

[…] We’re not talking about a crisis that will unfold over a year or two; this thing could come apart in a matter of days. And if it does, the whole world will suffer.

So will the E.C.B. do what needs to be done — lend freely and cut rates? Or will European leaders remain too focused on punishing debtors to save themselves? The whole world is watching.

(Paul Krugman in der New York Times)