Brother, can you spare (another) €100,000,000,000 ?

Today’s report that France and Germany have reached a tentative agreement – a “common position” as the BBC terms it – is the first good news regarding the Greek debt crisis which also threatens Portugal, Spain, and even Italy if Europe’s central bankers can’t figure out a way to resolve the Eurozone debt crisis. There is still a lot of work to do, but at least the leaders of these countries, two of Europe’s leading economic powerhouses, seem to have reached a mutual agreement to propose to the bankers currently meeting in Brussels. Greece has already implemented a severe austerity program and the citizens certainly are unhappy with the cuts they must face, but if those austerity measures along with the extension and the restructuring of Greece’s debt obligations into longer term payments, ease the crisis and prevent Greece from a full default, then it’s a necessity not only for the European economy, but ours as well.

The proposal calls not only for another 100 bn Euros, but would allow Greece to extend its payment schedules and request/require (?) non-governmental financial institutions to carry some of the additional bailout burden. At present, this is only a proposal, but it’s an indication that all parties recognize how serious this is for everyone.

The second half of this worldwide economic crisis is with the potential for the US to default on its own debt obligations in less than two weeks. Our own US Congress and the President’s economic team must come together and hammer out a compromise solution to enable us to raise our own debt ceiling so we can avoid an embarrassing and economically devastating default of our own. To say these are troubling, worrisome economic times is an extreme understatement. Imagine the scenario if Europe can’t reach an agreement on how to resolve the Eurozone debt crisis at the same time that the US defaults on its own debt obligations because of the refusal of members of Congress to work together. Could the result be another economic maelstrom such as the worldwide depression in the 1930s ? I don’t know – I’m not a macroeconomist or a banker and my comments here are just my own ramblings. But I am a student of history and knowing that the worldwide equity markets loathe uncertainty, I fear the worst unless those politicians and financial decision-makers that we place our trust in do the right thing – for the sake of us all.