Europe's Winner in Financial Crisis: Politicians

In France, President Nicolas Sarkozy nearly abandoned capitalism during his speech in Toulon on September 24th. Coming from the current EU President, his comments added to the sense of panic, rather than showing resolve and leadership. Those comments may have resonated with socialist sympathizers in France, but left financial analysts scratching their heads. Many are wondering if this is just another French promised reformist, turned apathetic. A few weeks ago he gathered with his European counterparts for a coordinated rescue package, which calls into question the purpose of his Toulon rhetoric. Remind me which side was he on during the '68 protests? He's made a decent effort to spearhead negotiations recently among the EU and US counterparts, but now appears to be stalling the process with his insistence on including energy-related language. If the Kyoto and the EU carbon credit fiascos taught anything is that the US and the EU are nowhere near consensus on climate change.

Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi appeared too fixated on saving Alitalia to notice the looming global meltdown. Now, with the banking system called into question, the rescue of Italy's national airline is on the backburner. Although he's a successful business executive who must understand markets, with his three-thousand Euro suits Berlusconi embodies an air of the backroom-deal and golden parachute that many attribute as the prime causes of the financial crisis. It may be hard for the billionaire to appeal to the unemployed if the crisis gets out of hand in Italy, but the jury is still out, pending the country's financial state in the coming months.

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Posted by Lauren Keane on November 13, 2008 12:56 PM

McCain Falls Plainly on Spain

It was no "Bomb-bomb-bomb, bomb-bomb Iran," but John McCain recently committed another embarrassing foreign policy gaffe - this one with Spain. First he appeared not to know that Spain was in Europe, not Latin America, and to mix up Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero with the Zapatistas. Then foreign policy advisor Randy Scheunemann said McCain had indeed refused to commit to meeting with Zapatero. Spain is not only one of Europe's largest economies, but it is a NATO ally with troops in Afghanistan. Perhaps McCain was tired. He certainly knows where Spain is: he is a U.S. Senator, after all, and he knocked out half the country's electricity when his plane hit some power lines back in the 1960s.

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Posted by Lauren Keane on October 14, 2008 3:37 PM