The E.U. on the Brink

Don't look now, but it appears Europe, as a confederation of European nations, is crumbling.

Ostensibly, the beginning of its troubles started with the sovereign debt crises in what are called the "PIIGS" countries (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, and Spain), but particularly with Greece's debt crisis, made much worse not only by the widespread use of credit default swaps (sponsored, of course, by U.S. financial "experts"), but also by a 110 billion Euro bailout.  Monetizing Greece's debt, however, hasn't helped, and a deal is in now in the works for another bailout.

If Greece's debt troubles weren't difficult enough for the European Central Bank to handle, now Italy faces a debt crisis of its own.  The problem with Italy, however, is that it's not Greece.  In fact, its economy is the third largest of the European Union, behind Germany and France.  Their debt is now well over 2 trillion euros.  They were thought to be too big to default, but now, they're too big to bail out.  Though it hangs by a thread, the Euro is all but dead, as British PM David Cameron asserted that the currency was facing it's "moment of truth." 

Greece's and Italy's fiscal woes are not without their political consequences, either.  Prime Minister George Papandreou resigned yesterday, as Greek faith in their government collapses.  Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi has pledged to do the same.  Economist/Bankers are taking over in their stead.  French citizens, now facing austerity measures of their own, thanks to their own contributions in attempts to keep Greece afloat, all but assume that President Nicolas Sarkozy will be replaced in coming elections by socialist candidate Francois Hollande.  German Chancellor Angela Merkel is calling for a "breakthrough to a new Europe."

No one is sure, of course, exactly how the breakup of the E.U. will play out, but in all likelihood, it's not going to be pretty.