The Italian election is this week’s cover story in the Economist Magazine and the banner headline is “Send in the Clowns” over pictures of Beppe Grillo, a real comedian who speaks for the 5 Star Movement that took 25% of the vote and Silvio Berlusconi, the former prime minister, whose do-nothing policies over the past decade got Italy into the trouble it’s in, and whose party took 30% of the

This guest post is written by Dr. Marc Vlitos, Enterprise Architecture Product Management at FINCAD. As the EURO crisis drags on with no end in sight, it has become apparent that European central banks are beginning to contemplate the possibility of a partial return to the old national currencies. While a total collapse still appears unlikely, the return of the Drachma, Lira and Peseta is becoming a real possibility. Forward-looking

The chickens are still coming home to roost; it better be a big coop. It’s been over three years since the failure of Lehman Brothers caused the devastating credit crunch that saw banks refusing to lend to other banks; legitimate companies unable to refinance maturing commercial paper and an almost grinding halt to the economies of the developed world. Yet, the bad news refuses to end. After months of anticipation

What a bad time to take a vacation from blogging. But what a great time to be a financial journalist. That’s probably why everyone and his brother have joined the finance beat lately. I left on vacation at the beginning of September and an already ominous European debt situation has gone from scary to absolutely frightening and I missed most of it. I’m sorry I missed the chance to comment