the foundations? Every time European stocks have bounded after their
record-setting U.S. counterparts this year, one explanation has been
offered.
European equity can share in the global rally, despite its own gloomy domestic growth
backdrop, because “the prospect of a euro breakup has diminished.”
This has been the
cry ever since the European Central Bank put its cards on the table last summer by stating baldly that the euro was irreversible and that it
would do whatever it takes to make this assertion reality.
On one level, it’s
all true too. The euro’s structure does look more solid, even if the
austerity required to keep the single currency single is exacting a
terrible toll.
The euro retains
broad public support. Spain’s jobless rate may be 27%, youngsters may be flooding away from Portugal and Ireland, and Greeks may be struggling
to buy food but, as The Wall Street Journal reports, more than 60% of Spaniards, Greeks, Italians and French want to keep the common currency, according to a survey published this month by the Pew Research Center.
http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2013/05/20/does-a-fatal-flaw-still-lurk-the-euro-zones-foundations/














