Europe: Stalemate, stand-offs and a downward slide

Europe's economy is clearly deteriorating, with the stand-off between Germany and the peripheral nations continuing to hamper attempts to reform the region.

On the surface, continental Europe remains an unappealing place to invest. Macroeconomic policy in the eurozone remains dysfunctional due to the stand-off between Germany and the periphery. Stalemate Germany is resistant to efforts by the European Central Bank to loosen monetary policy through quantitative easing, as it believes this will enable countries such as France and Italy to ease off structural reforms to their labour markets and fiscal adjustment. For their part, the peripheral economies complain that the sort of reforms Germany is calling for are impossible given the curr...