Investigation Reveals European Union Floundered in Financial Crisis

At a closed-door meeting in Washington on April 14, Europe's effort to contain its debt crisis began to unravel. READ MORE

Lacking a Grand Plan on Debt Crisis, Europe Limps Ahead

In 2011, European leaders have been unswerving in their commitment to muddling through.

Not for them grand or decisive moves to resolve the euro zone's twin government and bank financial crises. Instead, they have settled on a series of smaller gestures, over which they have haggled publicly beforehand and often afterward. Some actions may have helped their currency union hobble through the year; others will at best reduce the chances of a future crisis. READ MORE...

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U.K. GDP Growth Exceeds Expectations

LONDON—The U.K. economy expanded by more than initially estimated in the third quarter, according to the latest official figures published Thursday, but the nation's current account deficit widened to the largest ever recorded.

Life in the Euro Zone

Six Families Talk About Life in the Euro Zone

As families gather for year-end holidays, the European Union faces austerity measures, political turmoil and financial uncertainty.

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Banker Leads Charge of Spanish Knights

Spain's Rajoy Picks Investment Banker for Finance Post

MADRID—Mariano Rajoy, Spain's newly elected prime minister, selected a well-known former deputy finance minister and investment banker to spearhead his government's efforts to pull the euro zone's fourth-largest economy out of its worst crisis in decades.


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ECB Sees Record Refinancing Demand

Hundreds of euro-zone lenders took out a total of €489.19 billion ($639.96 billion) in low-interest loans from the European Central Bank on Wednesday, as the currency area extended a massive financial lifeline to its struggling banking industry.

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Is Market Sentiment Turning Away from the U.K.?

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Italy Continues to Suffer Under Union

ROME—Italy's economy contracted in the third quarter, data from the national statistics institute Istat showed Thursday, likely beginning a recession driven by sagging domestic demand.

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Doubts Arise in Euro's Birthplace

MAASTRICHT, Netherlands—For the 20th anniversary of the treaty that led to the euro, Dutch officials have quashed a proposal to invite the graying architects of the currency back for a commemoration.

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German Economy Rides Out Storm

FRANKFURT—German business and consumer confidence readings both improved in December, a sign that Europe's largest economy may avoid slipping into a recession early next year when it is expected to start to feel a fallout from slowing global growth.

Spain is a Model that Demonstrates the Limitations of the EU's Influence

MADRID—As euro-zone leaders discuss whether to impose penalties on heavily indebted member countries that break certain fiscal limits, Spain's experience shows why more centralized supervision of governments' budgets is unlikely to address some key economic problems plaguing the currency bloc and undermining investor confidence. REVIEW FURTHER...

U.K. Adds Wildcard Risk to Euro Deal

The euro-zone crisis was difficult enough with just two countries at the top table. But France and Germany's efforts to save the single currency are being complicated by the need to accommodate the demands of the U.K. REVIEW FURTHER....

Austerity in the U.K. Regarded as Obsolete

The Source for the WSJ reports: For all the howls of Keynesian outrage at the austerity that’s crushing the U.K. economy, one little point seems to be missed: the U.K. government’s plans are to spend more money in each of the coming years than in the previous year. REVIEW FURTHER

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German Manufacturing Orders Surprises

FRANKFURT—New orders in Germany's key manufacturing sector rose sharply in October, beating expectations and adding to a recent run of positive data that indicate the euro-zone's largest economy has yet to succumb to the bloc's worsening debt crisis. REVIEW FURTHER

S&P Adds Fat to Fire

Monday's euro-zone downgrade warning by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services is a muscular move by a firm that was pilloried for its supposed laxity in the financial crisis. REVIEW FURTHER

Austerity Will Sink Italy

Italy has taken the step of approving major austerity legislation, announced by Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti. This will see significant cuts in government spending. The move is being heralded as a new turning point in the European Sovereign Debt Crisis and a step towards salvation. Unfortunately, there is one point that policy-makers are failing to grasp in dealing with the crisis. REVIEW FURTHER

Italy Plan Approves Epic Austerity Move

ROME—Italy's new government unveiled austerity measures that European leaders and markets hope will form the first part of a wider European deal this week and mark a turning point in the battle to save the euro. REVIEW FURTHER

Calculating a Breakup of the EU Currency and How It May May Manifest Itself

Past breakups of currency unions provide some guideposts to how Europe's deepening financial crisis could end if its leaders can't find a solution. But its case is unique. REVIEW FURTHER.

The Winter of Forgotten Hope

By Grant de Graf

A chilly breeze blows across the Alps as winter approaches and politicians continue to search for an economic solution to what is being called the mother of all sovereign debt crises.

Europe spent years of dedicated service in building the Euro with its respective European partners, producing a currency that represented a significant part of the global economy. Today the vision which politicians rallied to support, lies in virtual tethers.

Tony Blair, former British Prime Minister, predicts that Europe has weeks to decide, whether the Euro has legs. German Chancellor Merkel has issued a call for unity and stronger financial discipline among members. Does that mean that the end is nigh? Economically speaking almost everyone agrees, including the leading players within the EU, that in order to survive the Euro has to undergo some fundamental changes. Seemingly there is somewhat of a mismatch between the political determination of European leaders to protect its currency and the viability of the economic blueprint that is associated with the Euro. One ponders whether Europe's leaders have the economic skill and face to be able to structure a plan that can save Europe. Sometimes it takes a greater sense of courage and wisdom to release the eagle from capture, than to ensnare it. The art of falconry was never Europe's strong point.

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How to Play the Central-Bank Rescue

The question on investors' minds is whether this latest rally has legs, or whether it will fade away like so many others in the past few months. REVIEW FURTHER....

Germany Hits Panic Button

BERLIN—German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday made an urgent appeal for decisive political action—including quick changes to the European treaty—to fix the root causes of the euro-zone debt crisis that threatens to unravel Europe's single currency and plunge the global economy into recession. REVIEW

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Blair: Europe Has Only 'Weeks' to Solve Crisis

Austerity May Sink Greece As Thousands Protest

ATHENS—Thousands of demonstrators marched through the streets of the Greek capital on Thursday in opposition to government overhauls, a few days before lawmakers start debating a 2012 austerity budget. READ MORE...

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Weak Manufacturing In Euro Zone, China Darkens Global Outlook

The outlook for the global economy deteriorated Thursday, with surveys showing manufacturing activity contracted at an accelerated pace in the euro zone and U.K. in November and shrank for the first time in nearly three years in China. But the U.S., where factory activity expanded, managed to buck the trend.

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World-Wide Factory Activity, by Country

As the world sinks deeper into crisis and central banks around the globe rally to restore economic order, the single statistic that veteran analysts are viewing with hawked eyes, is World-Wide Factory Activity, by Country. This is the what they are seeing. VIEW THE INTERACTIVE...

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Mortgages In Foreclosure Have Risen To An All-Time High

From LPS Applied Analytics: LPS' Mortgage Monitor Report Shows Delinquencies Down Nearly 30 Percent from Peak, Foreclosure Inventory at an All-Time High  READ MORE...

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Are There Are Too Many Incubators?

Is the start-up market overcrowded?

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The 25 Most Famous Princeton Students Of All Time

The 25 Most Famous Princeton Students Of All Time:

Close Ties Facilitated Central Banks' Coordinated Moves

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and the world's other leading central bankers have developed close ties after fighting crises since 2007, which has made it easier for them to take swift action together when needed. And worries at the Fed and other central banks have been building since the summer that Europe's problems were boiling over into global markets.  READ MORE....