Episode #7
Money Talking: Is Now the Time to Panic about Europe? And The Economics of Summer Blockbusters
Friday, June 08, 2012
Spain's sovereign risk premium shot to a fresh euro-era record on May 29, 2012, as Madrid announced new bonds to finance debt-struck regions and as banks scrambled to clean up bad loans.
(Philippe Huguen/Getty)
For more than two years, the European economy has see-sawed between potential collapse and stability.
Look at just this past week. On the one hand, Spain saw strong demand for bonds it offered for sale, auctioning off $2.6 billion. And while the interest rate was higher (6.04%) than the previous sale (5.74%), it didn’t go as high as some anticipated.
At the same time, however, there are increasing worries that Spain’s banking sector may need a 100 billion euro bailout ($126 billion) or face potential collapse, dragging down the rest of Europe.
If worrying about Europe feels like the boy who cried wolf, remember, the wolf did show up eventually. Is Europe’s day of reckoning upon us?
On the other side of the globe, one disaster you can count on is Hollywood's annual summer mega-blockbuster disaster films. But is this the best economic model in an age of where people can watch videos on mobile phones and computer screens?
And Rana Foroohar with Time and Joe Nocera with The New York Times run down what they’re think will make news in the weeks ahead, including the much anticipated testimony of JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon before Congress about how his bank lost at least $2 billion.
Hosted by:
Jeff Greenfield
This Summer's Biggest Blockbuster May Not Feature Explosions, Aliens or Superheroes
The disasters are coming! The disasters are coming!
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