The euro, the European Union’s boldest and most ambitious project, is under threat. Divisions among Europe’s leaders, and their inability to stabilise the euro, have damaged the EU’s reputation on other continents. The good news is that the EU now has an emerging leader. Chancellor Angela Merkel is setting the agenda. The bad news is that some German policies may do more harm than good. Thus Germany’s insistence that the future “crisis resolution mechanism” should make bond-holders take a loss has scared investors, pushed up Ireland’s and Portugal’s cost of borrowing and made their bail-out more likely.
歐元——歐盟(EU)最大膽、最雄心勃勃的計劃，如今正面臨威脅。歐洲領導人之間的意見分歧，他們在穩定歐元方面表現出的無能爲力，已經損害了歐盟在其它大陸的聲譽。好訊息是，歐盟現在有一位正在嶄露頭角的領導者——德國總理安格拉•梅克爾(Angela Merkel)正在擬定議程。壞訊息是，德國的一些政策可能弊大於利。結果，德國對未來「危機解決機制」應要求債券持有者承擔損失的堅持嚇壞了投資者，推高了愛爾蘭和葡萄牙的借貸成本，加大了兩國紓困的可能性。