Lifeline made in Europe
The heads of the eurozone countries have saved the honor of Europe, for the time being. Their decision to adopt the rescue plan hammered out by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, unlocking more than 1 trillion euros in rescue funds for the stumbling banking sector, sent the right message to international financial markets, which yesterday showed significant signs of recovery. Everything seems to indicate that the administration of the United States will also follow the European-inspired model for staving off the global financial meltdown. European politicians demonstrated a considerable degree of flexibility, proving to be more reliable that their American counterparts. To be sure, it is still early to draw any safe conclusions about the medium-term impact of Brown’s proposed solution. Nevertheless, the plan’s architect has, for the time being, given European Union leaders an opportunity to rally behind a common purpose, which already appears to be yielding some fruit.
