German Chancellor Showing Cautious Support for Spain, Italy Aid
"European heads of government also feel a duty and have a duty to do everything possible to preserve the common currency."
In a signal that August vacations are ending and it is time for European leaders to start grappling with the sovereign debt crisis again, Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, has expressed cautious support for measures to support Spain and Italy, while a Finnish official has suggested that euro zone leaders are preparing for the worst, including a possible breakup of the currency bloc.
Major European stock indexes advanced Friday after Ms. Merkel backed a statement by Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank, that the bank would do whatever it took to preserve the euro.
In contrast to some members of the German Parliament, Ms. Merkel expressed no objections to plans by the E.C.B. to buy bonds to hold down borrowing costs for stricken countries, if certain conditions were met.
Hide Comments (0)
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post commentsMute this user?
Ban this user?
Un-ban this user?
Nuke this user?
Un-nuke this user?
Flag this comment?
Un-flag this comment?