Dear Mr. President:So far your election strategy can best be summed up as: “We’re on the right track, my economic policies are working, we still have a long way to go, but stick with me and you’ll be fine.”I’m afraid this won’t be enough to win you the election. The recovery is too anemic, and the chance of an economic stall between now and Election Day far too high.Even now, Mitt Romney’s empty “I’ll do it better” refrain is attracting as many voters as your “we’re on the right track.” Each of

MUNICH ― For a while, it looked as if the European Central Bank’s 1 trillion euro credit program to pump liquidity into Europe’s banking system had calmed global financial markets. But now interest rates for Italian and Spanish government bonds are on the rise again, closing in on about 6 percent.Of course, this may not be the breaking point beyond which the debt burden becomes unsustainable. After all, interest rates in Southern Europe were well above 10 percent in the decade before the euro wa

WASHINGTON ― With Socialist leader Francois Hollande likely to become the next president of France, Europe’s hot populist anger is about to confront the cold austerity measures required by the eurozone, with a predictable result: a storm that rattles the foundations of the European economic house. Financial traders and treasury ministers this week are debating just how much damage this political-economic collision will bring. Some argue that it could take down the structure entirely. Others insi

LONDON ― Interest in the European Union’s competitiveness did not begin with the euro crisis. Safeguarding Europe’s advanced position in the world economy was, after all, a key motivation behind the creation of the single market. Since then, interest in EU competitiveness has risen further, spurred in particular by the challenge posed by countries like China.In order to ensure sustainable and inclusive economic growth in Europe, policymakers and the public must, above all, regard international t

NEW YORK ― The annual spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have provided a window onto two fundamental trends driving global politics and the world economy. Geopolitics is moving decisively away from a world dominated by Europe and the United States to one with many regional powers but no global leader. And a new era of economic instability is at hand, owing as much to physical limits to growth as to financial turmoil.Europe’s economic crisis dominated this year’