Friday 16 August 2013

Euro zone grows at last and Merkel says yes

A double good day in Europe, as euro zone growth is finally up.
And, Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, announced on Wednesday that she wants talks on whether the European Union should ‘give something back’ to member states this autumn. She is the most powerful woman or man in Europe and it seems that she is thinking what the PM is thinking.
The FT reports that "the eurozone’s two largest economies grew at a respectable pace in the second quarter: an annualised rate of 2.8 per cent in Germany; a surprisingly good 2 per cent for France. This puts an end to six quarters of contraction in the single-currency area. A patchwork of problems remains to be tackled but the eurozone’s return even to modest growth – 1.2 per cent annualised – is cause for relief."