Economist Covers

In the news last week...

The crisis surrounding Greece's public finances deepened. After weeks of trying to convince the markets that it could finance its debt, the country saw its credit rating cut to junk status, a first for a euro-zone member. Greece had earlier asked for the formal activation of a 45 billion euro ($60 billion) rescue package co-ordinated by the European Union and the IMF. As stockmarkets swooned, pressure mounted on the leaders of euro-zone countries, particularly Germany's Angela Merkel, to agree quickly on the details of the bail-out.

In what had otherwise been a largely gaffe-free British election campaign, Gordon Brown was caught on microphone describing a 66-year-old woman who had just confronted him with a question on immigration as "bigoted". Outrage, not all of it phoney, ensued.

Republican senators in America finally allowed debate to begin on legislation to overhaul financial regulation, after successfully frustrating three attempts by the Democrats to bring a bill to the floor.