The ratings game

摘要

The choreography has become wearisomely familiar. For the fourth time this year, European leaders are holding a summit, this one in Brussels on December 8th and 9th, at which they are promising a "comprehensive package" of measures to solve the euro crisis. The French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, and the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, are trying once again to produce a joint plan. They badly need to persuade wary investors and their own unsettled voters that, this time, it is for real.