Economic Troubles in Europe Causing a Global Headache

Uncertainty over the future of European economies and the European currency are throwing a pall of uncertainty over world markets. Market indexes for the US, Europe, and Asia were uniformly down as of this writing, as were most commodities and industries across the board. No one seems to know what is going to happen in European economies from one day to the next:

"The authorities should understand the gravity of the situation. If they don't, then they are admitting defeat and the euro will be called into question," said Goncalves. _CNBC

Simply, private investors and other governments, notably cash-rich China and other big exporters, expect Italian and other European sovereign debt to fail. They are concerned the euro will simply implode all together -- leaving no European government with both the resources and inclination to stand behind the ESFS’s failing bonds.
With the implosion of Italy, Portugal and Spain would not be far behind, and French debt will come under closer scrutiny. At that point, investors will stampede from the euro-denominated debt of most governments. With rates so low on US Treasuries and too little Japanese and Chinese sovereign debt in open circulation, gold would become the asset of choice. _NYPost

Europe rattled its begging bowl, and the Chinese walked on by. Mendicants who can't control their spending, with family members who refuse to put up their own cash, don't make for attractive borrowers. _WSJ

Rosenberg remains a harsh critic of Europe: “It is apparent to me that there is no near-term resolution to the European sovereign debt and banking sector problems. This latest bailout attempt for Greece has proven to be little more than a charade.”

Charades are facades; well-intentioned, perhaps, but spineless. What investors need now is certainty. What they’ve got is certainly far less. _Marketwatch

China’s exports rose at the slowest pace in almost two years in October as Europe’s deepening debt crisis crimped demand, adding pressure on policy makers to support growth in the world’s second-biggest economy. _Bloomberg

Along with the ongoing European economic slowdown, and the ongoing Obama recession in the US, there are signs of a likely middle- to long-term slowdown in the BRIC nations as well as in most nations which are heavily dependent upon commodities and manufacturing exports, over the next decade.