ATHENS When the eurozone was established, its creators envisioned gradual progress toward an optimal currency area, characterized by fiscal integration, the free movement of labor, and political union. But this process has not occurred, and, as the interminable Greek crisis has shown, the eurozone remains rife with structural weaknesses and extremely vulnerable to internal shocks.

BRUSSELS The seemingly interminable negotiations between the new Greek government and its international creditors the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank, and the European Commission on a new loan deal have entered a dangerous phase. At this point, a mistake on either side threatens to trigger the kind of accident that could precipitate a new crisis in Europe.

All the talk of an improved NATO European Union partnership is mainly wasted breath. Intensified strategic dialogue in Brussels in practice boils down to the chilling specter of interminable joint committee meetings at which one nation s ambassador to NATO explains his government s position to a compatriot diplomat who is accredited to the EU, and vice versa.

In Vietnam, inflation has hovered near 20 or more, with the government seemingly unwilling to embrace deeper reforms. Thailand s interminable political imbroglio has left its economy at stall speed the reformist zeal of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has petered out in his second term following the departure of Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati and Japan seems to remain in a state of suspended animation.

Against this view, Keynes pointed out that interest rate reductions may not do the job, because at zero or near zero rates investors hoard cash rather than lend it out. Hence, as he put it in 1932, there may be no escape from prolonged and perhaps interminable depression except by direct state intervention to promote and subsidize new investment which is what the Obama administration is rightly doing.

For a world weary of waiting for the World Trade Organization s interminable Doha trade round to conclude, even a bilateral trade initiative may seem like a boon, especially when, as a recent Financial Times editorial pointed out, bilateral covers half of the world s economy. But there is a serious downside The deal could hurt developing country exporters, unless the EU and the US make a concerted effort to protect these actors interests.