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.

Following in the footsteps of its European neighbors, France looks set to raise the national retirement age in a bid to overhaul the nation’s government-run pension system and restore its ailing public finances. The move is highly controversial in France. But high unemployment and mounting state indebtedness, coupled with populations that are living longer in retirement, are putting enormous pressure on many EU member states to change the system. The idea is to make workers stay employed longer (and contributing longer to the program) and postpone the moment when they are entitled to start claiming benefits.