Yesterday I asked:
In my view, the lack of panic is downright scary. Is Europe completely devoid of new ideas? Or is everyone simply on vacation?
The former might be true, but Bloomberg confirmed the latter is definitely true:
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble declared bond traders all wrong in driving up Spanish borrowing costs to unsustainable levels.
After issuing the statement late yesterday, Schaeuble, 69, went off duty for a three-week vacation.
It’s summertime in Europe, and like last year, borrowing costs are rising as investors fret over the fate of the 17- nation euro area. Most government leaders are heading to their favorite beaches, mountains and lakes to take a break from a crisis that U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said July 23 requires “immediate, short-term” measures to help Spain and Italy.
This upshot of the article is that, like last summer, leadership will be hard to come by in Europe for the next month.
