[ScaniaBoy]

The spread between Italian and German bonds continued to widen yesterday:: 119.7 basis points on the 10 year bond.

But Italy is not the only country in the eurozone suffering. Look at Greece:

Investors shun Greek debt as shipping crisis deepens

Actually, it looks like the whole of the eurozone is playing Wiley Cyotee or Cartoon Economics. They are running in thin air, but as soon as they look down, we'll hear a big "oh, oh".

Europe on the brink of currency crisis meltdown

The markets are finally starting to figure out that the euro is a big confidence game. Either we will see the eurozone break up in the coming year, or the EU countries will have to form a centralized government with a common fiscal policy and giving the ECB powerof lender of last resort.

The French president Sarkozy is all for this, but will the Germans really give up all their policies?

[ScaniaBoy]

Cartoon economics

[SAJ]

A fine and accurate post, m'friend. Eurocurrency, or as I have called it since 1999, ''the Fishwrapper'', is finally getting its comeuppance as due. Sure, long way to go to the October 2000 bottom...but, as Margaret Hamilton famously noted in The Wizard of Oz, ''All in good time, my pretty, all in go-o-od time''.

Perhaps someone can revive the old ''game'' show, The Weakest Link, and invite the assorted FinMins of Wonderland (my term for the European Union) as contestants.

Might be interesting, wouldn't you think?

;^)

[bruinbirdman]

Well, there can't be a currency play lira vs. DM. But the bond spread has been a bone of contention for quite awhile, no?

What does Sarkozy want? Brussels to be able to wield the iron fist? EU must declare the Treaty/Constitution in force then.

One of our presidents went up against the Supreme Court once. The Supreme Court, of course, rules on whether laws are valid, the president enforces the laws. The president said, "How is the Supreme Court going to enforce their ruling?"

What can the EU do? Fine a bankrupt country?

yitbos

[Claud]

I know nothing about economics, and I may be displaying my ignorance here, but how do we have all these countries in the world “selling debt”?

I can see natural products, exports, minerals, stuff like that. But debt? It all seems....I dunno...fake.

[pierrem15]

The markets are finally starting to figure out that the euro is a big confidence game. Either we will see the eurozone break up in the coming year, or the EU countries will have to form a centralized government with a common fiscal policy and giving the ECB powerof lender of last resort.

What the markets have figured out is that when push comes to shove, the German government will NOT honor Euro-denominated debt held by other EU states, making those Euro denominated loans worth only what the credit rating of those other individual states warrants.

If those other states (Greece, Italy, Spain) lose the ability to borrow in Euros, they will have to revert to their own currencies, which will (temporarily) break the common market in Europe as those new currencies sink tremendously against the "Euro-Mark".