Murder on the EU Express

With the monetary union coming apart, the finger-pointing has begun. Who really killed Europe?

You remember Agatha Christie’s classic whodunit Murder on the Orient Express? The problem for the great Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot was that there were far too many suspects. The strange death of the European Union may prove to be a rather similar case.

ECB rate increases to open policy gap with Fed

THE European Central Bank is poised to raise interest rates faster than the Federal Reserve for the first time in four decades, opening up a transatlantic policy gap that may help the euro endure the sovereign debt crisis.

One way to end Irish crisis — let banks go bust

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Missing in the 88 pages the Central Bank of Ireland has produced in determining that the Irish banking system is undercapitalized by some $34 billion (24 billion euros) is a different way to end the euro-zone nation’s financial crisis.

It’s an elegant and simple solution, and one that could prove cheaper: Let all the banks collapse.

Japan Quake, Euro Debt Crisis Cloud Recovery, Wang Says

Japan’s earthquake and tsunami, the European debt crisis and turmoil in the Middle East are adding uncertainty to the global economic recovery, China’s Vice Premier Wang Qishan said at a Group of 20 Nations seminar today.

Euro Region Is Prepared for Any Debt-Crisis ‘Turbulence,’ Asmussen Says

German Deputy Finance Minister Joerg Asmussen said the euro region is prepared for any financial-market “turbulence” resulting from the bloc’s sovereign-debt crisis.

“We have the strengthened Stability and Growth Pact, we have the euro-plus pact for competitiveness, we have the design of the permanent crisis-resolution mechanism, the ESM,” Asmussen said in an interview on his way to China, where German officials will participate in Group of 20 talks tomorrow in Nanjing. “We will explain the results in detail to our partners. We are well-suited for turbulence that may arise in financial markets.”