Free Republic

The European Union spearheaded a $1 trillion plan Monday to contain Europe's spreading debt crisis and keep it from tearing the euro currency apart and derailing the global economic recovery. Central banks around the world joined the coordinated effort to prop up the euro and repel speculative attacks against Europe's weakest countries. The European Central Bank used what analysts called its "nuclear option" — buying public and private debt to shore up liquidity in "dysfunctional" markets and lower borrowing costs.The U.S. Federal Reserve separately reopened a currency "swap" program to ship billions of dollars overseas, pumping more short-term cash into...