Debt crisis: live

By Carnegie Endowment:As expected, the G20 summit yielded little by way of concrete commitments or dramatic breakthroughs. The high hopes of just a few weeks ago had already dimmed by the time leaders gathered in Cannes, in an atmosphere beset by European divisions, Greek tragedies, and the inability of the United States — absorbed by its own domestic problems — to provide the necessary impetus.

AS BUTTONWOOD notes, much of Europe is back from holiday today, and they all appear to be in rotten moods. European markets are tumbling today, and European banks are heading for trouble:

AS BUTTONWOOD notes, much of Europe is back from holiday today, and they all appear to be in rotten moods. European markets are tumbling today, and European banks are heading for trouble:

The leaders of France and Germany summoned Greece’s prime minister for crisis talks Wednesday in Cannes, ahead of the G20 summit there, to discuss his surprise announcement of a national referendum on a 130-billion euro EU bailout.

European leaders summoned the Greek prime minister to the French riviera on Wednesday to restore calm on the eve of a G20 summit after his shock call for a debt rescue referendum raised the spectre of Greece leaving the eurozone.French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, top EU leaders and the head of the International Monetary Fund were set to meet with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou to discuss the implications of his referendum plan.

The G-20 summit of to a great start if you like fireworks, endless bickering, and finger-pointing. Otherwise these summits are totally useless. When asked by a Canadian journalist "Why should North Americans risk their assets to help Europe?" EC President José Barroso replied "Frankly, we are not here to receive lessons in terms of democracy or in terms of how to handle the economy.

AMERICAN employment put in a respectable performance in July. Non-farm payrolls rose 117,000, or 0.1%, and the unemployment rate edged lower to 9.1% from 9.2%, both better, but not dramatically so, than Wall Street had expected. Any other time this would have been cause for mild satisfaction. In these grim times, it constitutes a massive relief bordering on joy.