Europe tries to douse debt crisis
RAF CASERT and ELENA BECATOROS, Associated Press Writer
BRUSSELS – Amid ruthless financial turmoil, German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged European leaders to sharpen the core rules underpinning the euro to avoid debt crises like the one which has pushed Greece to the brink of bankruptcy and threatened other fragile eurozone nations.
"We must sharpen the edge" of the rules to keep wayward governments in line, Merkel said, adding the 16 eurozone leaders should also consider changes to the 1992 treaty that laid the groundwork for the shared currency. "Otherwise, it won't work, in my opinion."
The euro has rules to stop governments from undermining it with reckless spending, limiting deficits to 3 percent of gross domestic product. Those rules were shown to lack teeth when even big countries such as Germany and France broke them without serious consequences.
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I heard the eurolenders (German) are demanding the Greeks privatize their healthcare system
if so, oh the irony