Last week, no government in Europe dared feel safe, and contagion was the word on everyone's lips. Investors' attention swung from Italy to Greece and then even to France, and bets poured in over who would be next to succumb to the eurozone's spiralling debt crisis. It was also a week of political turmoil, as Greece appointed a former European central banker as its interim prime minister and Italy's Silvio Berlusconi was pushed towards the exit. If the week began with a sense of limbo, it rapidly spun into chaos. Italy's media mogul PM was insisting that he remained in charge for the time being, and promised a confidence vote with the words: "I want to look into the faces of those who are trying to betray me." He went on Facebook to deny rumours of his imminent resignation, crushing hopes that a new government would rapidly be drafted in to implement reforms. The country's borrowing costs rose rapidly, reaching the levels that had forced bailouts in Portugal, Greece and Ireland. In
Raymond Clough dnomyar34@raymondclough.com
The Guardian - 1 hour ago When exhausted European leaders emerged from all-night negotiations in Brussels last month with a "comprehensive" plan to claw the euro back from the abyss, they could have had no inkling that, less than a fortnight later, it would have so ... |
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