Let's have some plain-talking

Instead of trying to soothe the fears provoked by the US financial crisis Europe should start doing some plain-talking. The financial world's assurances that Europe is not so heavily affected by the financial crisis because its activities are focused on booming Eastern Europe are clearly out of place, the Austrian daily Die Presse writes: "Despite all the reassurances, the US crisis has hit us hard. ... Because (the now almost non-existent) confidence plays such an important role in this sector the best approach now is to be completely candid about the situation with the general public - for the next economic slump is coming from the East. ... So much for [all the talk about] a boom: the Moscow stock exchanges are experiencing a crash which makes the sharp fall in prices on Wall Street pale in comparison. Hopefully no one will try to tell us that this is a problem for Mr Putin to deal with and which (like the US crisis) will have next to no impact in these parts."

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