I called it a while ago in another thead... but Merkel and Sarkozy just said that countries in the Eurozone would probably have to adopt balanced budget ammendments, much like US States.

It really is the only way for the Euro to stay stable.... but is Europe ready for this level of integration... let alone this level of austerity cuts!

EDIT: Good OP Link now.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/markets/merkel-sarkozy-want-balanced-budget-laws-in-all-eurozone-countries/2011/08/16/gIQAyodHKJ_story.html

Do you have a source as to what Merkel and Sarkozy have said? I can't see any news popping up yet

Probably can find one... was watching the press conference live on CNBC.

This mentions it

http://blogs.wsj.com/marketbeat/2011/08/16/live-blog-merkel-and-sarkozy-speak/

Here's another

http://www.thejournal.ie/france-and-germany-merge-corporate-tax-rate-and-call-for-eurozone-government-202816-Aug2011/

Eurobonds/Balanced Budget ammendments.....

Basically the Euro Zone would practically become the USA, but a USA more how republicans would like it amusingly.

I don't think the EU leaders have any clear idea how to get out of this mess they created themselves.

All they are doing is buying time with these "life support" payments to the crisis countries.

This is not something that can be done overnight and there would be winners and losers.
I don't see how those in the losers camp would vote for this.

"Under Germany’s plans for a legal budget limit, countries whose national debt stood at over 60 per cent of their economic output would be asked to wipe five per cent off their debt every year. Countries falling under this so-called “golden rule” would include Ireland and Italy."

This is not gonna happen

I also don't think an "economic government" led by heads of government that come together twice a year would help in any way.

And last: forcing all eurozone countries to have a balanced budget didn't work when France and Germany together ignored the Stability Pact around 2003 or so, so I dunno.

It does seem shockingly drastic.  It makes the cuts American's are fighting over look like silly in comparison.

I'm surprised nobody is interested in this. For all the Europeans who like to rag on American "conservatism" I'd think that this proposal and speech in general would get some reaction, since if it passed, Europe would shoot way passed the USA and be way more conservative on the Monetary and Macroeconomic interference scales.

Expected more outrage.

Not going to happen. Every time the EU fails, the politicians' answer is "more EU", it's just getting silly now. The Eurozone crisis is the result of too much integration, and everybody loses - the loser-losers are facing massive austerity, and the winner-losers are having to bail out the loser-losers.

This just causes even more problems (if it is at all enforceable). I'm glad Britain isn't part of the Euro, but we won't be able to hold out forever (IF the Euro survives), so it's either leave the EU completely, or become even more of a bitch to unelected, foreign leaders.

There was outrage in America when the idea that their own president, that they elected, may not have been born in the USA. Our leaders were never elected, and are from all sorts of countries.

At least, however, by decade's end, the UK will probably be the economic top-dog in Europe. France is crippled by debt (and refusing to do anything about it), Germany is bailing out losers (which is turning them into a loser), and Merkel's/Sarkozy's knee-jerk economic reactions (this new Eurozone plan, banning short-selling, Germany banning nuclear, etc, etc) will fundamentally ruin these countries.

People may hate on David Cameron for "cutting too quickly", but we're on track to have a completely balanced budget by 2015, what other Western countries can claim that? If the Conservatives win a second term, the focus will then be on tax reduction, and the UK will be on its way to being the best place to do business in Europe.

Not that it matters much to me, as I'll (hopefully) be in the States.

/rant over.

Austerity is, quite frankly, bad for everyone in the short term (though works as a long-term discipline), so this isn't likely to get anywhere

This post sounded positive for the UK, but then I found this:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/8473705/UK-has-third-biggest-budget-deficit-in-Europe.html

which sounds like the UK is totally in the gutter