Europe has become incapacitated
Jul. 24th, 2012 04:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
koganbot"'Europe has become incapacitated,' said Alessandro Leipold, a former deputy director at the International Monetary Fund."
I like that sentence (New York Times, "In Euro Zone, Debt Pressure Tightens Grip") because it doesn't give enough context to explain what Leipold means, leaving one's imagination to dance in the sky. I'm guessing (but not on the basis of what Leipold said, or of anything else he's ever written, none of which I've seen, the above four words being it [except see below]) he — or someone — might say, "Hypothetically, there are steps that the European governments and the ECB can take, but politics will prevent them, as will the lack of an effective decision-making mechanism among the countries. So Europe is like a deer caught in the headlights." But as I said, that's a guess. Maybe he thinks there's nothing to be done even hypothetically.
But how do you report such a story in a way that gets people interested, a looming tragedy that seems to lack illustrative events?
Spanish Government Generic Bonds - 10 YR Note: 7.621
I like that sentence (New York Times, "In Euro Zone, Debt Pressure Tightens Grip") because it doesn't give enough context to explain what Leipold means, leaving one's imagination to dance in the sky. I'm guessing (but not on the basis of what Leipold said, or of anything else he's ever written, none of which I've seen, the above four words being it [except see below]) he — or someone — might say, "Hypothetically, there are steps that the European governments and the ECB can take, but politics will prevent them, as will the lack of an effective decision-making mechanism among the countries. So Europe is like a deer caught in the headlights." But as I said, that's a guess. Maybe he thinks there's nothing to be done even hypothetically.
But how do you report such a story in a way that gets people interested, a looming tragedy that seems to lack illustrative events?
Spanish Government Generic Bonds - 10 YR Note: 7.621
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2012-07-25 08:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-25 04:57 pm (UTC)"Un is now 2"
Clever, except I doubt that anyone would ever refer to him as "Un." That would be like calling you "Rk," or "Dee."
Possibly irrational of me to hope that Kim Jong-un's* ascendancy will bring positive change, though it's hard to see how any change is likely not to be for the better. Apparently he's promoting economists to top positions in his gov't, which I take to be a good sign. Again, unlikely that economic policy could be made any worse than it was under his father.
Of course, change will likely bring some uncertainty, which could, therefore, increase a sense of insecurity, confusion of leadership, rogue decisions, the chance of warfare.
*Jong-un or Jong Un or Jong-eun or Jung-eun or Chŏngŭn (and Kim or Gim); there are several different romanization** systems, and while (e.g.) the South Korean government is trying to mandate an official one, the popular press seems not to be following suit, or playing trump, or whatever it's supposed to be doing. We should all just learn Hangul (or Hangeul or Han-geul or Joseongeul or Joseon-geul or Chosŏn'gŭl). Kim Jong-un = 김정은. One problem with romanization is that there aren't standard pronunciations of romanized vowels anyway.
**Not to mention romanisation.
no subject
Date: 2012-07-25 05:22 pm (UTC)