While yields on Italian debt are lower, the rest of the economic news continues to get worse. Unemployment in the Eurozone reached 12.1 percent on average according to figures released this week, while major strikes and employee walk outs plague Greece, Spain, and France according to today's NY Times. The European economy is still in free fall.
Surprisingly, you hear almost no news about the European economy other than self-serving statements from Euro-officials about how the crisis is over. The crisis is not over; it is deepening.
Politically, Europe is moving toward the extremists on the right and on the left. The European center, devoted to big government and the welfare state, is losing credibility with voters. The great European experiment has run out of (other people's) money. Now the day of reckoning is at hand.
Americans traveling in Europe report increasing street crime, especially in frequently-visited tourist areas. Life is changing in Europe and it is not getting better.
Americans should pay attention. We are on the same path. The next shoe to drop in the US will be Obamacare. When Americans realize that they are paying for insurance and health care that they cannot afford, do not want and do not need, the rebellion will begin here. US debt is on an unsustainable path and the economy is weakening. The stock market and improving home prices are about the only bright spots. Employment gains have corroded and GDP growth is disappearing from view.
The American media does not tell this story and glosses over the hard facts on the ground. But the media will become irrelevant as the facts on the ground will eventually overwhelm a fawning media. The American economy is getting worse and Europe is headed for a depression.
