Sovereign Debt and Beyond: Toward a New Magna Carta?

Source: The Globalist

Alexander Mirtchev and Norman Bailey

The global debt burden appears to have gathered an unstoppable momentum, prompting divergent reactions. The world economy cannot count on growth to solve the global debt problem — and stimulus measures are not a sustainable solution. In the second installment in the series “The Search for a New Global Equilibrium,” Dr. Alexander Mirtchev and Dr. Norman Bailey explain why the solutions currently being offered are wholly inadequate to the scale of the problem, and argue the time is ripe for a “new Magna Carta” — a redefinition of the social contract among the government, Main Street and Wall Street.

Santander profit down 5 pct in Q4 amid debt crisis

MADRID (AP) — Profit at Spain's Santander bank fell 4.6 percent in the fourth quarter as losses in Europe, where the debt crisis hammered markets, offset gains in emerging markets.

The largest bank in the 17-nation eurozone said Thursday it earned euro2.1 billion ($2.9 billion) in the October-December period, down from euro2.2 billion in the same quarter for 2009.