By John Mauldin | October 31, 2011
This week's Outside the Box will be unusual. Rather than one essay, I give you a number of short ones, and links that are representative of the confusion that is Europe, along with a little history. As I noted this weekend, last week's Eurozone announcement was short of details, and very little of the real work had been done. Merkel has to get her own country on board, keep the other nations that are in trouble from demanding haircuts, and keep the markets from trashing Italian and Spanish debt. Berlusconi has to figure out how to get the Italian budget balanced while staying out of jail and "balancing" his social calendar. Maybe he can dollar-cost average with a 70-year-old date? (Sorry, that was snarky, but it is so easy.)
Europe's problems will visit shores all over the world. China will not come to the rescue, at least not cheaply. It is becoming increasingly unclear where they will get the money without ECB participation, but that is VERY euro bearish.
I don't want to seem like I am piling on Euroland, but they are the crisis du jour. And it's just a matter of time until it's the US. Sigh.
And lest I forget again, let me say a special thanks to Joan McCullough for pointing me last week to Mike Masters, who was very helpful in understanding the intricacies ofcredit default swaps and their implications.
Another busy week and lots of airplanes. It will be my first time ever on Aer Lingus, as I fly to Ireland. This weekend will be fun, and even though I will do a few speeches, it will b a very different crowd than I normally speak to. No PowerPoints, just explanations of how the world works to average people – while professional stand-up comedians try and keep me honest! We shall see how that works.
Your keeping it simple analyst,
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