LONDON // Europe's financial mess concerns most of the world. In the US presidential campaign, it barely merits a mention.
Both candidates studiously ignore discussion of what the respected American website Foreign Policy calls the "greatest threat to global financial stability".
In one rare departure from domestic issues, Mr Romney talked of the US ending up like Spain or, worse, Greece, if it did not curb spending.
Europe certainly sees president Obama as a friendlier face, welcoming his administration’s support for crisis solutions that includes economic stimulus.
Mr Romney’s pro-austerity line is more in tune with Germany’s stance, though even that has been softened to endorse Franco-Italian insistence on policies for growth.
The US needs a strong Europe and the euro crisis is ultimately a problem for Americans too.
But in practice, Obama-Romney differences may be as slender as the issue’s hold on electoral attention, with both men unwilling to commit dollars to solving its biggest trading partner’s woes.
David Gordon, a senior analyst who served as a close aide to George W Bush’s secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, told Foreign Policy neither had an “effective plan”, adding: “This is one of these cases where you pay to play. And we are not paying.”
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
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