Belgium on the road to hell

As the yield on Belgian sovereign bonds now lies at 5.5 percent and will no doubt continue to rise, the Belgian transitional government has called on citizens to purchase government bonds. The left-liberal daily Le Soir draws a grim parallel: "The nationalist knee-jerk reactions and the resulting mutual accusations bring back some nasty memories. Comparisons are never perfect, nevertheless: in 1928 and 1929 the withdrawal of American capital played a determining role in plunging Weimar Germany into economic crisis and the hell that ensued. ... While Europe remains incapable of agreeing on a project for euro bonds - a potential solution for getting out of the crisis - must we really resort to the patriotic purchase of state bonds, a concept that has financed more than one war? This is a very sinister allegory of the situation into which our Europe has got itself."

» full article (external link, French)
More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Fiscal Policy, » Financial Markets, » Belgium, » Europe
All available articles from » Jurek Kuczkiewicz
Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis

» To the complete press review of Friday, November 25, 2011