The Wobbly West

So I found some enormous, ridiculous, giant ski boots and then wobbly, wobbly I get on the ropes.

You know it's wobbly, and you know that it hurts.

If you think about the last time, I dunno, you had a wobbly tooth.

Strong currencies make strong countries, a senior United States policymaker used to say. Many emerging country exporters, struggling to retain customers in the wobbly US and European markets, feel otherwise.

Some outcomes may be more positive, or at least less damaging, than expected. But the realization this autumn of even some of the risks described here could derail the global economy s still wobbly recovery.

Moreover, Abdullah understands that his wobbly regime will only be able to withstand the radical gales that are now blowing if it can forge the type of stability seeking alliance that Metternich built. The King, like Metternich and the Austrian Kaisers, understands de Tocqueville s dictum that the most dangerous moment for a regime is when it starts to reform.

Europe s economy remains shackled by three problems sovereign debt, the euro, and wobbly banks despite several new policy backstops the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) the European Central Bank s easy money policies and holdings of sovereign debt and the ECB s takeover in November of supervision of the 130 or so largest pan eurozone banks. None of these reforms has been sufficient to restore the stronger growth that Europe desperately needs.