That Euro Crisis (Again)

The events in Greece are now a sideshow as the Euro crisis moves to Rome. The yield on Italian 10-year bonds rose to a euro-era high of 6.6% - this is dangerously near bailout territory. And given that Italy is the 3rd largest economy in the Eurozone, a crisis there is a whole different ball game to Greece.

Talks of a possible Euro breakup are now openingly being discussed as German tour operator TUI writes to hoteliers demanding that they agree to renegotiate contracts in Greece's old currency - the drachma.

There are conspiracy theories this morning that the pressure on Italian bonds is being used to force the removal of Berlusconi. The collapse of the Italian government would bring relief to the markets. That a government collapse could help market confidence is a strong indication of how bad this crisis is. I'm not so sure about the conspiracy theories, my feeling is that the crisis is starting to snowball, to escalate out of control towards its inevitable conclusion; that the markets no longer believe (rightly) that the EU has the capacity to solve the problem. We can only wait and see.

But don't worry the EU have everything in hand, their solution? To announce another Eurozone crisis meeting. On November 17th.