Bailouts & Austerity Measures Aren't Working

Who has time for pleasantries when the fate of Europe and the global economy is at stake? After Mario Monti, an economist with little experience in the rough world of Italian politics, was sworn in as the country's new Prime Minister on Nov. 16, German Chancellor Angela Merkel sent him a congratulatory letter that minced no words. With Italy, the euro zone's third largest economy, gripped in a debt crisis, Europe was counting on him to repair his country and save the euro from disaster. "There are many hopes and expectations set on you," she wrote. "It would behoove you and your government to decide upon and implement decisive and significant reforms."