The recent roller coaster in the markets reflects more a concern about the health of European banks than the U.S. downgrade by Standard & Poors. It also underscores a fundamental weakness in U.S.-European Union relations — the lack of a platform for discussing economic and financial difficulties across the Atlantic in a way that parallels NATO.
Hidden in all of the discouraging public discussion of Europe's financial difficulties is a little green shoot of economic hope that could provide the basis for a turnaround in productivity growth, not only in Europe, but in the U.S. as well.
