(Reuters) - It's too early to call the end of the euro zone crisis, but signs are growing that Europe may have turned a corner in its struggle to restore financial stability. French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde, mangling a treasured Winston Churchill quotation, said last week: "We are in the middle of the beginning of the end."More prudently, we may be seeing "the end of the beginning."The evidence comes partly from financial markets, which are calmer, partly from the real economy, which is perkier, and partly from policy, which is responding at last to at least some investor concerns.There are still plenty of risks -- lack of faith in planned stress tests of European banks; low or no economic growth; more credit rating agency downgrades of sovereign debt; an eventual Greek default or debt restructuring; weaknesses in euro zone governance; and political resistance to painful reforms.But on balance, things are starting to look up.
(Reuters) - It's too early to call the end of the euro zone crisis, but signs are growing that Europe may have turned a corner in its struggle to restore financial stability.
French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde, mangling a treasured Winston Churchill quotation, said last week: "We are in the middle of the beginning of the end."
More prudently, we may be seeing "the end of the beginning."
The evidence comes partly from financial markets, which are calmer, partly from the real economy, which is perkier, and partly from policy, which is responding at last to at least some investor concerns.
There are still plenty of risks -- lack of faith in planned stress tests of European banks; low or no economic growth; more credit rating agency downgrades of sovereign debt; an eventual Greek default or debt restructuring; weaknesses in euro zone governance; and political resistance to painful reforms.
But on balance, things are starting to look up.
