In the first quarter of last year, the market set a new post-Lehman high but got de-railed by the European Debt Crisis. In the first quarter of this year, the market set another new post-Lehman high but got de-railed by the North African revolutions, the tragedy in Japan, and, oh yeah, the European Debt Crisis . . . it's still here, darn it!
If you think the U.S. Congress is maddeningly frustrating, it looks downright decisive compared to the European Union and its Parliament. They are working on a plan to increase the size of the bailout fund, called the European Financial Stability Facility, guaranteed by the six EU members who have an AAA credit rating, along with nine others. Of course, those nations want something for the Fund in return, to make sure the weaker members don't back-slide and to limit exposure to their guarantee. They want each nation to become "Little Germanys," who control their pension and health care costs, who demand more of their taxpayers, and who make a good credit rating a national priority. (This is pure Austrian economics.)
While that sounds good collectively, it does limit the national sovereignty of each nation somewhat, if they fail to be fiscally prudent. Now the ECB or European Central Bank wants to make sanctions automatic, while the European Parliament wants each sanction debated before being implemented. We know how well that will work.
So, here we are facing the same problem a year later. Nobody ever said democracies were easy!
