The resurgent strength of the euro in the international currency market could, ironically, be the agent of its demise in 2007. Problems caused by the lack of fiscal maneuverability that the “one-currency-fits-all” approach imposes saw Italy considering a return to the lira just last year. But in October, when French car manufacturing output dropped to 14 percent for the year, with the country’s monthly trade deficit running at a staggering $2.7 billion, and economic growth shuddering to a standstill, it left one of the EU’s biggest guns warning of possible withdrawal — a move which would signal the end for [...]
One year from now we will pause to look back at 2007, the year that was. Historians and journalists will shuffle through their files and ponder what transpired. They will look at events and personalities and try to jump ahead of future historians, deciding what about the waning year will be remembered by posterity. The best minds will emphasize happenings that looked like isolated events, but in fact were turning points or signs of important new trends — thresholds into a new era. Trust no one claiming to have specific knowledge of what the future will bring. And yet, who [...]
A BIG POLITICAL YEAR IN EUROPE — Politically, 2007 promises to be an action packed year in Europe, and here’s a sampling: In May, the French presidential elections will bring to a close the Chirac era and perhaps see the installation of France’s first woman president, the Socialist candidate Segolene Royal. In Britain, another political career reaches its twilight when Labor Prime Minister Tony Blair makes way for his successor-in-waiting Gordon Brown, the chancellor of the exchequer, either in September or earlier. Fresh trouble looms in Kosovo after the U.N. mediator Martti Ahtisaari in January presents his recommendations on what [...]
