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From the tone and the sheer skittishness of this article, it would seem that we, denizens of the United States, are marching along a cliff's edge wearing a blindfold and juggling bowling balls. Not a lot of optimism right now; and the scary part is that our possible fate is in the hands of the never-exceptional Europeans. Don't you wish that now, we could still claim "American Exceptionalism" and be above what's coming as a freight train towards the rest of the world?       From the WaPo...

If the trouble starts -- and it remains an "if" -- the trigger may well be obscure to the concerns of most Americans: a missed budget projection by the Spanish government, the failure of Greece to hit a deficit-reduction target, a drop in Ireland's economic output.

But the knife-edge psychology currently governing global markets has put the future of the U.S. economic recovery in the hands of politicians in an assortment of European capitals. If one or more fail to make the expected progress on cutting budgets, restructuring economies or boosting growth, it could drain confidence in a broad and unsettling way. Credit markets worldwide could lock up and throw the global economy back into recession.

Just where we didn't want to be, at the tender mercies of the frogs in France and the toads in Greece and Spain.

I posted Sunday on the NYT's jaw-dropped realization that the Liberal Model (unfettered socialism and benefits given to 'enlightened' citizens by nanny-state governments who only want to stay in power; as we are seeing touted in the United States with the election and ascension of our favorite plastic president) is unsustainable, and will result in collective Europe's forced scale back of these unsustainable benefits. Then, the civil disorder and unrest, protests, and street ignominy. Greece, sure, they've seen it starting, and it's flickering in France, who isn't really all that far away from more street anger. Remember the riots there a year ago, with French youths burning cars in the streets of Paris when they couldn't find jobs (or force 'integration', which means to the Muslim youths with the lighters, integration of the French to their desired standards).

So, if some hedge fund broker with too much cash on his hands decides to throw a money wrench into the markets somewhere, we might lose our 401-K's ? A disheartening thought.

But there's an immediate thin silver lining for the U.S., however bleak the overall long-range outlook...

For one, uncertainty about European government debt has driven global investors toward U.S. government bonds, which in turn is pushing down long-term interest rates. The 10-year Treasury bond had a rate of 3.2 percent Friday compared with nearly 4 percent last month. Those lower rates should flow through to private borrowing, helping Americans getting mortgages or businesses looking to grow.

The European panic is also lowering the price of oil and other commodities on global markets, potentially making it cheaper for Americans to fuel their cars and heat their homes. A barrel of oil went for about $70 on Friday, down from almost $87 on April 6.

"Heat their homes". He must be referring to Utah's bit of snowfall yesterday morning.


There you go, Utes. You can afford to stay warm a little while longer.