European Union - Oct 20

Once again, European superpowers Germany and France failed to adopt steps to ignite Europe 's growth. Meeting in Berlin yesterday, finance and economic ministers of the two countries could not agree to either German new infrastructure investments or French new budget cuts and labor market reforms. France, under pressure to reduce spending and take unpopular measures, asked Germany to provide political cover for its leaders with offsetting investment initiatives.  German ministers only agreed to refer the conversation to a study group. Yet again, European problems are addressed incrementally, not aggressively.

Sources: The New York Times, Wall Street Journal Online