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August 2010
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Italy has managed to largely avoid the media spotlight in the eurozone crisis, even though it is one of the so-called “PIIGS” (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Spain) always listed as the weak links in Europe. But Greece’s crisis and now Spain’s worries have overshadowed the potentially even larger problem in Italy. After all, it’s the seventh largest economy in the world -- seven times larger than that of Greece. But it has problems, too. So, as one commentator puts it, Italy is the “largest of the vulnerable countries, and most vulnerable of the large.”
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July 2010
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The prospect of more cooperative relations between Poland and the rest of the EU is a widely-noted highlight of the election of the country’s new president, Bronislaw Komorowski.
His victory creates a tandem at the top of Poland’s leadership since he and Prime Minister Donald Tusk are political allies. Both are leaders of the Civic Platform, a party that stands for center-right free-market economics and warmer relations with its EU partners, particularly neighboring Germany.
Often at odds with the previous president, Tusk shares much with Komorowski: “They are pragmatists rather than ideologues, reserved not blustering, and open to the world,’’ commented Spiegel, the magazine in Germany, which welcomes the outcome. Komorowski, 58, was an anti-communist dissident, imprisoned in the crackdown on Solidarity and subsequently a prominent member of parliament.
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June 2010
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As leaders head to Toronto for a G-20 summit meeting this weekend, the stage is set for the EU and the U.S. to air their clashing views about the right priority for national fiscal policies at this stage of the crisis.
The meeting will thus be a sounding board – and little else. Major collective decisions are scheduled for the G-20’s subsequent meeting this fall in South Korea.
But a trans-atlantic clash of views has become increasingly strident about what fiscal strategy to adopt now amid signs of global economic recovery. The Obama administration is publicly urging Europe to copy the U.S. example of continuing to pump money into the system in order to spur economic growth. But key EU leaders – notably Germany – are publicly insisting that it is time to rein in deficit spending to tackle the accumulating (and already monumental) debt.
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Last Updated on 08/03/10 |
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June 2010
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Greater budget discipline is a goal that all EU countries are pursuing, with tax increases (including in VAT rates) and often-drastic cuts in government spending. A country-by-country table of these measures being adopted by EU member states has been compiled by the European Institute and is available here as a survey current as of July 1.
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June 2010
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Written by Meghan Kelly
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Bank debt is the newest bad news that threatens the already tenuous financial stability of many European countries. This new problem is an outgrowth of the crisis of government debt that erupted in Greece, now spilling over onto other European countries’ credit ratings. Hungary has now joined the ranks of countries that might have to resort to a default of national debt.
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