Dec 5, 2011

Marketplace Index for Monday, December 5, 2011

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy took a pretty dramatic and united step forward today. They jointly pushed for a new European treaty that, if ratified, would alter the actually treaty that created the euro zone. It will create a system of budget cops to enforce automatic penalties onnations running deficits greater than 3 percent of their total budget. Consider yourself on notice, Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Italy, and Spain. Even though it's still in the planning stages, the European Central Bank could lower interest rates when it meets Thursday.

Segments From this episode

Daily Pulse

First class mail will take longer

by Duncan Wilson

Dec 5, 2011

The U.S. Postal Service announced that it would shutter more than half of its processing centers next year increasing the number of days to deliver some mail

One giant step forward, two steps back

by David Brancaccio

Dec 5, 2011

France and Germany are finally on the same page, both saying they want to modify the treaty that originally created the eurozone. A key element automatically penalizes countries if budget deficits run too high. Hence, the world of the day: Automaticity.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy took a pretty dramatic and united step forward today. They jointly pushed for a new European treaty that, if ratified, would alter the actually treaty that created the euro zone. It will create a system of budget cops to enforce automatic penalties onnations running deficits greater than 3 percent of their total budget. Consider yourself on notice, Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Italy, and Spain. Even though it’s still in the planning stages, the European Central Bank could lower interest rates when it meets Thursday.