Against the tide: Europe’s stress point

	Jean-Claude Trichet: this is the most severe economic situation that Europe has faced “since WWII, possibly even WWI”

Last month the eurozone sovereign debt crisis reached a stress point that threatened to blow the euro currency system apart. Although I don’t think this will happen, the euro suffered a serious credibility deficit. European leaders rushed to plug the gap in the sovereign debt dykes that had been breached by bond investors. They came up with an emergency financing package designed to convince markets that they cannot win in forcing any eurozone state into defaulting on its debt.