Debt crisis: as it happened, May 2, 2012

Spain and Ireland have economies in shambles over housing bubbles popped long ago. Damage continues to mount. Here are a pair of stories highlighting problems. Bloomberg reports Irish Home Loans At Least 90 Days In Arrears Rise to 9.2% Irish home loans in arrears for more than 90 days rose to 9.2 percent at the end of last year from 8.1 percent at the end of the third quarter, according to the country’s central bank.

Spain has floated a number of bad-bank proposals recently, all of which were fundamentally flawed and doomed from the start. The latest shell-game proposal will supposedly take bank assets, put them in a non-bank, while forcing the banks to come up with sufficient capital to cover losses. Please consider Spain in Talks Over ‘Bad Bank’ Scheme

There was lots of Eurozone news this week outside of the typical Greek default fodder. Nearly all of that news was not pretty. Let's take a look at the key stories. Eurozone Unemployment Rate 10.7%, Highest Since 1999 The Telegraph reports Eurozone unemployment hits record high of 10.7pc

Eurozone unemployment hits a record high of 11.7pc, as the German Bundestag approves the latest Greek debt deal to provide a new €44bn rescue package by 473 votes to 100.

Europe has now officially become the Schrodinger continent, demanding both sides of the economic coin so to speak, and is stuck between the proverbial rock and hard place (or "a cake and eating it").

Greece's deputy finance minister warns that the near-bankrupt country is "on the brink" with cash reserves at "almost zero," as eurozone unemployment hits a record level of 11.2pc.