Economix Blog: Simon Johnson: What Would It Take to Save Europe?

My, my, SEC head of enforcement Robert Khuzami has revealed himself to be both remarkably thin skinned and not very good at making a case for himself.

If European leaders cannot agree on how to stabilize their financial system, chaos and inflation seem sure to follow, an economist writes.

Is this week's summit meeting of leaders of the Group of 20 likely to stabilize the world economy? No, an economist writes.

Politicians in Greece and Italy failed to do the job. Prime Ministers in both countries went down in flames.However, it has been a struggle to find anyone to replace them with. Politicians have been bickering over replacements ever since the leaders agreed to resign.The latest proposal, and one we will likely see in Greece and Italy is "technocracy", rule by well-respected economic experts, who supposedly will know what to do.Rise of the Technocrats

By Simon Johnson Most experienced watchers of the eurozone are expecting another serious crisis to break out in early 2011.  This projected crisis is tied to the rollover funding needs of weaker eurozone governments, i.e., debts falling due in March through May, and therefore seems much more predictable than what happened to Greece or Ireland in 2010.  The investment bankers who fell over themselves to lend to these countries on the way up, now lead the way in talking up the prospects for a serious crisis.

By Simon Johnson The finance ministers and central bank governors of the world gathered this weekend in Washington for the annual meeting of countries that are shareholders in the International Monetary Fund.  As financial turmoil continues unabated around the world and with the IMF’s newly lowered growth forecasts to concentrate the mind, perhaps this is a good time for the Fund – or someone – to save the world.

By Simon Johnson Already facing serious difficulties – both internal and with regard to its EU partners (see our longer essay in Saturday’s WSJ) – Greece’s predicament just became substantially worse.

ByKyle Spencer:SA Contributor Cam Hui wrote an excellent article today about whether reduced wages and Chinese investment constituted "an inflection point" for Europe.I believe the answer is no.