A "New Breed" of Transatlantic Stock Markets

The New York Times reports a "new breed" of transatlantic stock markets.

Trichet Calls for "Credible Alertness" on Post-Crisis Euro

European Central Bank President, Jean-Claude Trichet

Financial Times editor Lionel Barber interviews President of the European Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet. Couldn't embed the video here, but get it via the link at this twitter account: willfleeson

Watch for the nice EU-US comparison around minute mark 3:30, when Barber says the EU cannot boast a common currency and treasury, as can the US. "This is not Massachusetts," he points out, a statement of the obvious that only transatlantic wonks like EurAmerican may find appreciable. 

Also see insightful commentary on economic globalization after nine and a half minutes.

Religiosity in the US: A Religious Outlier Indeed

Charles Blow created this fascinating chart on religiosity worldwide, with the US far removed from its counterparts in other industrialized countries. The graph was published in Saturday's NY Times, in an op-ed of sorts titled "Religious Outlier." This data, taken from a recent Gallup poll, draws from responders in 115 countries. Blow writes:

"Sixty-five percent of Americans say that religion is an important part of their daily lives. That is compared with just 30 percent of the French, 27 percent of the British and 24 percent of the Japanese.

"[Blow] used Gallup’s data to chart religiosity against gross domestic product per capita, and to group countries by their size and dominant religions.

The cliché goes, “a picture is worth a thousand words.”

The Gallup poll hypothesizes a strong correlation between religiosity and income, and is appropriately titled "Religiosity Highest in World's Poorest Nations." And the poll sets forth this summary of the survey's implications:

"Social scientists have put forth numerous possible explanations for the relationship between the religiosity of a population and its average income level. One theory is that religion plays a more functional role in the world's poorest countries, helping many residents cope with a daily struggle to provide for themselves and their families. A previous Gallup analysis supports this idea, revealing that the relationship between religiosity and emotional wellbeing is stronger among poor countries than among those in the developed world."

Does Gallup mean to suggest that religion is practically necessary in the Third World, whereas in developed nations, religion takes a back seat to feelings of self-sufficiency and control over one's life path? What would those say who buck the trend -- including Americans, Italians, Greeks, and residents of the Persian Gulf? After all, Greece was religious well before its debt crisis, and the faithful Gulf boasts one of the highest concentrations of wealth in the world.

The comment board is open.

The Wane of Danish "Flexicurity" and European Safety Nets

Liz Alderman, economist and blogger on the NY Times' Economix blog, has some compelling things to say about the down-scaling of Denmark's welfare programs in light of the global recession, and how the northern country serves as a cautionary study on social safety nets and "two-speed markets" in Europe and the U.S. (...)

Italy and the Dimming of Old-World Artisanship

The sensibilities of old-world artisans and 21st-century economic forecasters collide in this NY Times article on the sinking industry of Italian textile manufacturing. Veteran clothier Luciano Barbera claims "this tradition is finita," lamenting the demise of his label with its "spa for yarn" where the Barbera line alchemizes its top-end menswear -- and tries to sell $4,000 suits in a global recession. 

Meanwhile, American outsourcers such as Jos. A. Bank are doing just fine, with the Maryland-based brand reporting $770.3 million in profits over the last fiscal year. Is this another death knell for Old Europe traditions, precipitated by globalization?

For Italy in and of itself, economist Francesco Giavazzi deplores the white-knuckle grip of the "associazioni di categoria" and other guilds and unions on the Italian economy. The article describes:

"... Economists said that worrying about [the decline of artisanship] was like fretting about the head cold of a patient with Stage 3 cancer. They see a country with a service sector dominated by guilds, which don’t just overcharge but also raise the barriers to entry for the millions in ill-fated manufacturing jobs who might otherwise find work as, for instance, taxi drivers. They see a timid entrepreneur class. They see a political system in the thrall of the older voters who want to keep what they have, even if it dooms the nation to years of stasis. 

They see a society whose best and brightest are leaving and not being replaced by immigrants, because Italy has so little upward mobility to offer. 

To Professor Giavazzi, the future here doesn’t look like Greece. It looks like Argentina. 

“Before World War II, Argentina was rich,” he says. “Even in 1960, the country was twice as rich as Italy.” Today, he says, you can compare the per capita income of Argentina to that of Romania. “Because it didn’t grow. A country could get rich in 1900 just by producing corn and meat, but that is not true today. But it took them 100 years to realize they were becoming poor. And that is what worries me about Italy. We’re not going to starve next week. We are just going to decline, slowly, slowly, and I’m not sure what will turn that around.” (...)"

Long-Term Unemployment in America

Thank you, Rich Morin and Rakesh Kochnar, authors of the most recent and always-interesting findings by the Pew Research Center. Their report is titled "Lost Income, Lost Friends -- And Loss of Self-Respect." Note their use of the phrase Great Recession, without quotation marks or other hints of a newly-coined phrase, which is to say it's been here a while (too long) now.

The abridged version is in article form here. The full report is in giant pdf form here. Also enjoy the interactive graphic.