Europe could melt down in two weeks — three tops — and take the world down with it, IMF adviser and Harvard economist Robert Shapiro says.
The fate of the industrial world's economy lies in European policymakers' hands.
"If they cannot address [the financial crisis] in a credible way I believe within perhaps 2 to 3 weeks we will have a meltdown in sovereign debt which will produce a meltdown across the European banking system," Shapiro tells the BBC, as reported by Zero Hedge. "We are talking about the largest banks in the world, the largest banks in Germany, the largest banks in France, that will spread to the United Kingdom, it will spread everywhere because the global financial system is so interconnected. All those banks are counterparties to every significant bank in the United States, and in Britain, and in Japan, and around the world."
Greece has been teetering on the brink of default for a while now, and European officials have been working with the country to keep it in the eurozone via aid packages. A default on its debts could damage the European banking system since banks across the continent are either directly or indirectly exposed to Greek debt.
U.S. banks exposed to Greek banks will feel the heat as well should Greece default and spark a crisis similar to the Lehman Brothers collapse in 2008.
"This would be a crisis that would be in my view more serious than the crisis in 2008," Shapiro adds.

Germany and other euro-zone nations are pushing for some form of burden-sharing—for instance, delaying repayments to private-sector bondholders whose debt is about to mature. The European Central Bank is opposed. Mr. Van Rompuy's meeting will include ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet, Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso and EU economy commissioner Olli Rehn. Many of the attendees are scheduled to be in Brussels on Monday for a regular meeting of the group of euro-zone finance ministers, of which Mr. Juncker is chairman. The wider finance ministers' meeting, too, is expected to include the Greek problem. A senior euro-zone official called Mr. Van Rompuy's meeting a precursor to the already scheduled Monday evening meeting of euro-zone finance ministers. "There are various concerns and worries about the progress of the second bailout package [for Greece], mostly because of little progress in the private-sector involvement," said the official. "It's not moving at the expected pace." Another EU official said there are several preparatory meetings that take place before finance-ministers' gatherings, adding this is "no emergency whatsoever." Mr. Barroso's spokeswoman said he will attend his regular coordination meeting with Mr. Van Rompuy, "enlarged to other actors, as has happened in the past." Meanwhile, Italy's stock-market regulator late on Sunday introduced temporary measures aimed at curbing speculative attacks on the Milan stock market, in a move that tries to respond to a wave of selling that hit Italian bank stocks on Friday. Stocks closed down 3.5% on Friday and the spread between 10-year Italian and German bond yields reached a record 2.47 percentage points on escalating concerns that debt-laden Italy might be dragged into the European debt crisis. A group of five Italian banks underwent a stress test, the results of which will be released July 15. The new measures in Italy require market operators to disclose short-selling moves above certain levels, according to a statement released by Consob, the regulator. The measures will be effective starting Monday and will remain in force until Sept. 9, the statement said. EU leaders have agreed that some form of private-sector involvement is necessary for another emergency loan to Greece so that the burden on euro-zone taxpayers is lightened. It has been so far impossible to nail down exactly how private creditors should be involved. Ratings companies have said that efforts that leave private creditors in worse financial shape will likely compel the companies to declare Greece in default. ECB officials have said a default is unacceptable. Talks with groups of creditors have yielded few results. Charles Dallara, the head of the Institute of International Finance, a banking-industry trade group, said last week that a "selective default" by Greece need not be as dire as widely thought, if it were temporary. A selective default occurs when an issuer defaults on some of obligations but continues to service others.

Staple foods became 20 to 40% more expensive between July 2010 and February 2011, shows the Z.F. index calculated based on prices in Bucharest hypermarkets. ZF selected 15 products whose price it has been following since 2008, once every six months, at the same Bucharest hypermarkets, Carrefour Orhideea and Real Afi Cotroceni. These products were chosen because they are most often to be found in Romanians' purchase basket. (Z.F.)

In the calculation of this index, ZF chose one brand from each category of products, a brand that is well positioned in terms of market share, produced by one of the top-five players in the category. Therefore, one kilo of Băneasa flour costs 2.8 lei in February, 41.4% more than in July 2010. 1 Kilo of Lemarco sugar now costs 4.295 lei, compared with 3.28 lei, an increase of 30.9%. Similarly, the price of Floriol vegetable oil (1 litre) rose over 35%, from 5.11 lei to 6.91 lei. Data from the National Statistics Institute (INS) point to a 10.2% price increase for flour in the July 2010 - January 2011 period. Similarly, the increase amounted to 8.1% for sugar. The only products whose prices fell, of those analysed by ZF, were beer, mineral water, apples, with the decline amounting to 6.1%, 0.1% and 12.4% respectively.

Real estate developers scheduled for delivery in 2011 at least eight retail projects in Romania totaling a surface of over 230,000 square meters, 17% more than the total area of projects completed in 2009, according to property analysts.

In 2009, developers completed retail projects totaling 195,000 sqm, according to CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) data.

Oradea Shopping City, Uvertura City Mall Botosani, Vitan Outlet Bucharest, Policolor Shopping Center Bucharest and Electroputere Shopping City Craiova are other projects scheduled for completion in 2011. Read more on http://www.mediafax.biz/. (Z.F.)euro, criza datoriilor de stat, euroscepticismul, monede nationale, renuntarea la euro, salvare euro, zona euro

Austria's Erste Bank has sold financial gold

BCR, the biggest domestic bank in terms of assets, is gearing up to enter the niche of gold sales to individuals, where only Greece's Piraeus is operating for the time being. Gold has this year brought a return of around 40% to investors, thus being one of the most profitable investments, just like in 2009, when it had climbed by 32%. Over the past two years, BCR, controlled by Austria's Erste Bank, has sold financial gold only to private banking clients, who have a greater financial power and are seeking ways to diversify their investments. Usually, the minimum quantity that had to be purchased stood at 5 kilos per deal, but smaller deliveries were also negotiated. As part of its new retail strategy, BCR is getting ready to sell gold bullion and coins issued by the Austrian Mint, starting from very small sizes, of just two grams, to one kilo. BCR will sell gold through certain selected branches, but Răzvan Furtună, head of the sales department of BCR Treasury, has not provided any further details for the time being.(Z.F.)euro, criza datoriilor de stat, euroscepticismul, monede nationale, renuntarea la euro, salvare euro, zona euro