European leaders declaring they’ve gained the upper hand in the three-year-old debt crisis are sharpening efforts to channel a rebound in financial markets to an economic recovery to chip away at soaring unemployment. Even as euro-area chiefs call for more time to lock in a bailout package for Cyprus and elections loom next month in Italy, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said Jan. 11 that the single currency is “over the worst of the crisis.” “Financial markets are starting to appear normal again,” Erik Nielsen, chief global economist at UniCredit SpA (UCG), wrote in a note to clients yesterday. He ... (full story)