Berlin and Paris powerless in face of crisis

The German-French duo has once more failed to summon the energy necessary to avert the looming disaster, writes the liberal business paper Les Echos: "First of all Greece is facing state bankruptcy. Secondly, distrust is growing regarding all of the Eurozone countries except Germany. Yesterday, for example, investors borrowed money at negative interest rates in Berlin. Or to put it another way: they preferred to pay the German state to keep its money instead of taking the risk of placing it elsewhere. Thirdly, transactions between banks are frozen because they no longer trust each other. And fourthly, bond terms are growing ever shorter, both for states and for businesses. Now all forces must be summoned to prevent the European financial system from collapsing and pulling the entire continent into the abyss. It will soon be too late."

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