How to End the Crisis Now

Illustration by Ian Keltie for TIME; Flag: Igor Zehl / CTR / AP; Draghi: Horacio Villalobos / Corbis; Merkel :Geert Vanden Wijngaert / AP; Hollande: Lionel Bonaventure / AFP / Getty Images

Clockwise from top: German Chancellor Merkel, French President Hollande, European Commission president Barroso and European Central Bank president Draghi.

It's funny what passes for good economic news in Europe these days. The euro zone is finally expanding, but it will struggle to grow GDP by even 1% this year. Consumer spending is up a bit, and borrowing costs for weaker countries are finally starting to come down. If that doesn't sound like much to cheer, that's because it isn't. Still, it was enough for European Commission president José Manuel Barroso to stand up recently in front of a crowd in Athens during the launch of the Greek presidency of the Council of the European Union and say that...

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