by Calculated Risk on 11/11/2013 08:18:00 PM

Trom the NY Times: Skeptics See Euro as Working Against European Unity

[T]he big worry lately is the specter of deflation, a doom loop of falling prices, wages and profits that, once under way, is a tailspin hard to pull out of. The fear of years of stagnation was the main impetus for the European Central Bank’s decision to reduce interest rates, over the objections of Germany, which worries that looser money will only encourage profligacy by its weaker euro neighbors.

It is not evident, though, that anything has been gained by the austerity policies that Germany long preached, which have been a drag on economic growth; government debt in the euro zone has risen sharply over the last half decade.

Perhaps worst of all, the various economic afflictions have reinforced the kind of nationalism and xenophobia that the broader European Union project was supposed to chase away.

Not only has austerity in Europe been a dismal failure, but policymakers still haven't addressed the fundamental issues in the Eurozone.

Tuesday:
• At 7:30 AM ET, the NFIB Small Business Optimism Index for October. Expect a decline in optimism.

• At 8:30 AM, the Chicago Fed National Activity Index for September. This is a composite index of other data.