The question on everyone's mind is, What is German Chancellor Angela Merkel going to do? She's reportedly still undecided. so I recommend that she listen to Ella singing this song with the Chick Webb band in the late 1930s.
On late night TV, I had the chance to interview Soren Kierkegaard on the Eurozone crisis on the day the yield on the ten-year Spanish bond surged to a euro-era high above 7%. "The German Chancellor seems to be lowering expectations and addressing a domestic audience, just as she has in advance of prior summits," noted Kierkegaard, a research fellow with the Oscar Peterson Institute for Internatinal Economics. "Refusing to dampen the growing panic may be strategic, a way to give European leaders more room to maneuver." I asked Kierkegaard to forecast a likely outcome. "Past summits failed to appease markets," he shrugged. "I think we can expect significant progress on a European bamking union and a long-term plan for eurobonds. But there's no quick fix in sight, especially if Merkel demands power transfers requiring new treaties as part of the quid pro quo. That would be a year-long process, and markets don't like to be kept waiting."
Meanwhile, I said, unemployment in Greece remains over 25%, and the Greek people are pulling their cash out of the bank at the rate of a billion euros a day. Kierkegaard reflected before replying in his deadpan manner that "an awkward moment of silence" might best suit the occasion. The remark drew an appreciative laugh from the studio audience. We shook hands, and the segment ended with my guest standing up to leave. "Ladies and gentlemen," I said, "Soren Kierkegaard." -- DL
