Nogger's Blog

24/11/11 -- The European debt crisis isn't just getting worse by the day, it's now deteriorating faster than that. Germany's most badly received bond auction since the euro was born yesterday shows that even Europe's strongest economy is getting sucked in. Guilty by association.

The cost of borrowing over ten years for Germany is now higher than the rate enjoyed by the UK, according to the BBC today.

"Super" Mario Monti gets his first meeting as Italy's new PM with Germany's Angela Merkel and France's Nicolas Sarkozy later today. That should be interesting given the widening gap between the views on how to resolve the crisis held by the latter two.

As the crisis careers out of control it's starting to look like every man (or woman) for themselves. Personally, I can't see that tough-talking Merkel is going to easily be persuaded that Germany should pick up the tab for the rest of Europe's reckless misdemeanours.

In contrast, France isn't opposed to putting a bit of loose change into the cancer research collection tin, but that's only because it knows that it's probably got the big C already.

Greece and Portugal remain on life support and Ireland has been left to die in an isolation ward off to the side whilst Spain coughs it's guts up in reception.

It's a long time to Christmas isn't it?