Posted on 04/23/2012 3:03:06 PM PDT by Signalman
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Referring to the European debt crisis with the cutesy shorthand acronym of the PIIGS just doesn't seem right anymore.
The problems on the continent now go far beyond the southern peripheral nations of Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain (with Ireland up north tossed in for good measure.)
Political instability in France and The Netherlands are making investors even more nervous. And they should be -- especially since Europe's woes are starting to spill across the Atlantic.
Several U.S. firms that reported their latest quarterly results Monday morning specifically cited weakness in Europe as a major problem.
Cereal company Kellogg (K, Fortune 500) lowered its 2012 earnings and sales forecasts Monday morning. In a statement, CEO John Bryant said the company faced "significant challenges" in Europe.
Wolverine World Wide (WWW), which sells shoes under the Hush Puppies and Merrell brands, said in its earnings report Monday that its sales outlook for the current year is "tempered by macroeconomic and financial uncertainty in Europe," adding that the environment on the continent is "recessionary."
Cleaning-equipment maker Tennant (TNC) reported first quarter profits and sales that missed forecasts and had perhaps the most dire assessment of the situation in Europe. The company said one reason for soft sales growth was because "the European debt crisis made it more difficult for Tennant customers to obtain credit."
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
We don’t have to wait for Amerisocialism to destroy the U.S. economy. Eurosocialism is already doing it.
Is this going to be the new liberal meme? Now that the “It’s Bush’s Fault” canard has run its course, they’re going to march to “It’s Europe’s Fault”?
We would be largely impervious to financial woes in Europe had we managed our own spending wisely. As it is, we have no one to blame but the US Government for the majority of our financial problems.
This excuse will work about as well as the last seven, I predict.
It's global. It's unstoppable. And it's coming to a country near you.
You are correct, PB. Had we not reached the economic tipping point in debt-to-GDP ratio, had we not repeatedly elected foolish clowns to run the country, had we paid closer attention to the wild spending sprees, had we not bought the lie of easy credit, we wouldn’t be in this situation.
PIIGS - Progressive Idiots Implementing Government Socialism
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