The massive contagion from the small periphery to the big bond markets of Italy and Spain has turned into ‘the’ real problem for policy makers. This is what happens when you treat the symptoms and not the cause. All along the Eurozone has needed strong leadership-demands it, without it, global capital markets are capable of picking ‘off’ one country at a time. Lagarde’s comments that the IMF is ‘not at the stage of discussing conditions and terms’ for a new Greek package and ‘nothing should be taken for granted’ has given London the green light to compound the EUR’s worries. It’s import that all policy makers should ... (full story)