There are few who truly believe any longer that Europe's economies can shrug off bad news from elsewhere. Jean-Claude Trichet, head of the European Central Bank (ecb), now concedes that gloom in America must darken the euro area's prospects. Exporters hit by the strength of the euro cannot but find it harder when their second-largest market (America) turns down, especially as the largest (Britain) is slowing too. Yet politicians and central bankers are reluctant to admit to home-grown frailties. Their ritual invocation of Europe's "sound fundamentals" and "lack of imbalances" seems like wishful thinking-or complacency.
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