Central Bank chief: euro crisis is worst since the second world war

Source: guardian

The European Central Bank president, Jean-Claude Trichet, warned this weekend that Europe faces its worst crisis since the second world war as he called for a "quantum leap" from eurozone countries in getting a grip on their finances.

With political leaders across the eurozone lining up to blame the financial markets for their economic plight, Trichet said it was Europe's governments that were responsible for the euro's slump, rather than currency traders and speculators.

In an interview with German news magazine Der Spiegel, Trichet compared the situation just over a week ago – when markets went into freefall – with the start of the credit crunch. "The markets stopped functioning – it was almost like the situation after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008." He added that Europe is "undoubtedly in the worst situation since the second world war, perhaps even since the first. We have experienced, and are experiencing, really dramatic times."

Financial markets have been on a rollercoaster over the past fortnight. The panic that swept through the markets on 7 May prompted the European Union to hammer out an unprecedented €750bn emergency support package. For once, investors felt that policymakers had got "ahead of the curve" and responded with a relief rally at the start of the week. Their optimism proved to be short-lived, however, as the realisation sank in that the package did not solve any of the underlying problems.

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Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/may/16/european-central-bank-president-warns-crisis-war

When Billionaires short your money then actively try to devalue it to make more money, what do they expect.

Now that countries went into debt to stimulate they're calling them irresponsible, blah blah.

Anyone could see that this would be the long-term result of the stimulation.

Our 'leaders' and 'experts' appear to be simpletons.

They are crooks and swindlers, and know exactly what they are doing.