The economy's pace picked up in the third quarter, but it's still not fast enough to make a dent in unemployment.Read the rest here.
U.S. economic growth increased at its fastest in a year in the third quarter as consumers and businesses set aside fears about the recovery and stepped up spending, creating momentum that could carry into the final three months of the year.
And...
BRUSSELS — European leaders clinched a deal Thursday they hope will mark a turning point in their two-year debt crisis, agreeing after a night of tense negotiations to have banks take bigger losses on Greece's debts and to boost the region's weapons against the market turmoil.Read the rest here.
After months of dawdling and half-baked solutions, the leaders had been under immense pressure to finalize their plan to prevent the crisis from pushing Europe and much of the developed world back into recession and to protect their currency union from unraveling.
World stock markets surged higher Thursday on the news. Oil prices rose above $92 per barrel while the euro gained strongly — a signal investors were relieved at the outcome of the contentious negotiations.
"We have reached an agreement, which I believe lets us give a credible and ambitious and overall response to the Greek crisis," French President Nicolas Sarkozy told reporters after the meeting ended early Thursday. "Because of the complexity of the issues at stake, it took us a full night. But the results will be a source of huge relief worldwide."
I'm not sure where they get the euros to backstop the banks. I assume some of it is current capital and they'll print the rest.
ReplyDeleteGreece is going to get new loans, which will go unpaid in their turn.
It'll be a combination of sources: (1) decreased Greek bond support; (2) contributions to the EFSF, probably through a SPV; and (3) EFSF's limited ability to print money.
ReplyDeleteAs I told you previously, if the world turns to shit, you'll see me dancing at GreekFest in the company of proven survivors.