(p. A1) Even after European leaders appeared to have averted a chaotic default by Greece with an eleventh-hour deal for aid, worries persist that a debt disaster on the Continent has merely been delayed.
The tortured process that culminated in that latest bailout has exposed the severe limitations of Europe’s approach to the crisis. Many fear that policy makers simply don’t have the right tools to deal with other troubled countries like Italy, Spain, Ireland and Portugal, a situation that could weigh on the markets and the broader economy.
“I don’t want to be a Cassandra, but the idea that it’s over is an illusion,” said Kenneth S. Rogoff, a professor of economics at Harvard and co-author of “This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly.” “I am amazed by the short-term psychology in the market.”
. . .
(p. B3) “I don’t think we’re anywhere near the endgame,” Professor Rogoff of Harvard said.
For the full commentary, see:
PETER EAVIS. ” NEWS ANALYSIS; For Greece, a Bailout; for Europe, Perhaps Just an Illusion.” The New York Times (Weds., February 22, 2012): A1 & B3 (sic).
(Note: ellipsis added.)
(Note: the online version of the commentary is dated February 21, 2012.)
Rogoff and Reinhart’s thought-provoking and much-praised book is:
Reinhart, Carmen M., and Kenneth Rogoff. This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2009.