Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Europe's latest leaders summit was important, but it was just a step in a multi-year process of redressing the situation.
While European leaders have come a long way and now understand the full gravity of the situation—something that didn’t exist even six months ago—the German and French approach is far too demanding on peripheral countries and doesn’t offer enough support.
When the United States says that this is Europe’s problem to deal with and Europe is rich, it should bear in mind that a collapse of the euro would be disastrous for the United States
A situation where Europe is unraveling, the United States is indecisive, and Japan is facing major long-term problems, calls into question the belief system and power system that has driven the global economy for the last fifty or sixty years.
Policymakers must realize that the world has changed with the deep crisis in the advanced countries and everyone has to adapt to that.
Europe is trying to solve its economic problems through further fiscal integration and greater financial oversight, but fears are high that the steps taken thus far are not enough to stem the crisis.
The long run economic success of the United States will determine its ability to continue to provide economic and political leadership to the order it created in the aftermath of World War II.
The United States must take urgent steps to help Europe resolve its debt crisis, while simultaneously preparing for the worst—the collapse of the both the euro and global financial system.
The euro crisis has grown too big for Europeans to handle alone. The United States must act to help save the euro—or risk paying a much bigger price if it collapses.
After the failure of the U.S. “supercommittee”—which may mark the beginning of a multiyear impasse—it is far from clear that Washington lawmakers will be able to address the country's fiscal problems before the markets turn.
