Europe is dangerously close to its financial Sarajevo. The continent's leaders, while relaxing on southern Europe's crisis-ridden shores, should take Tuchman's message to heart.
The US federal government could emulate this example by compensating the states more generously for their Short-Term Compensation programs.
The ECB's surprise liquidity operation put the continent's crisis on hold. But now, just fourth months later, matters are again coming to a head.
There is no shortage of talk nowadays about Europe's deficits and the need to correct them. Critics point to governments' gaping budget deficits.
At last, European leaders have revealed their top-secret plan for solving the euro's crisis.
Nowadays there is no shortage of pundits, economic or otherwise, warning of impending disaster. If right, they are hailed as seers; if wrong, chances are that no one will remember.
Contingent convertible bonds, or "cocos," have been proposed as a solution to this problem. When a bank's capital falls below a pre-specified limit, its cocos automatically convert from debt to equity at a fraction of their previous price.
Europe is again on the precipice. The most recent Greek rescue is on the brink of collapse. The crisis of confidence has infected the eurozone's big countries. The euro's survival and, indeed, that of the European Union hang in the balance.
The United States no longer dominates the world economy to the extent that it did in the past. Just as the US now has to share the world stage with other economies, the dollar will have to make room for other international currencies.
Europeans might usefully look back 60 years, to a time when their own countries, perched on the brink of a similar collapse, received the help that they needed to recover – help that has put them in a position to do something similar for Greece today.
The dollar has had its ups and downs, but the downs have clearly dominated of late. The greenback has lost more than a quarter of its value against other currencies, adjusted for inflation, over the last decade.
Financial markets are increasingly certain that a Greek debt restructuring is coming, and European policymakers fear the worst.
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263 Registration Number: 130349 
