Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – The New York Stock Exchange closed up but the Nasdaq was down Thursday as fears continue that the European debt crisis is getting out of control.
A default among major European countries is likely to drag down the U.S. economy too, possibly into another recession, according to economists.
The risk to the U.S. economy is bringing warnings from President Barack Obama and becoming part of the campaign rhetoric of his opponents in the 2012 presidential race.
Obama said during a cross-country tour this week to promote his job creation proposals that Europe’s debt crisis is “scaring the world.”
He is urging European leaders to move quickly to resolve their debt problems.
He blamed setbacks this year for the U.S. recovery on international turmoil, such as European debt and Arab Spring uprisings that drove up oil prices.
Europe’s biggest unknown is Greece, where the government is seeking a bailout from the European Union as its debt rises.
The 17 member nations are considering enlarging the European Financial Stability Facility, a fund that would provide bailout loans and financial incentives when any one of the Union’s economies stumbles.
Finland voted this week to enlarge the fund, which would require each European Union country to contribute more money.
However, all of the member countries must approve the proposal before the fund could be enlarged.
“They have not fully healed from the crisis back in 2007 and never fully dealt with all the challenges that their banking system faced,” Obama said during a speech in Mountain View, Calif. “It is now being compounded with what is happening in Greece.”
China joined the United States during a recent International Monetary Fund meeting to encourage the European Union to control its debt crisis.
“So they are going through a financial crisis that is scaring the world and they are trying to take responsible actions but those actions haven’t been quite as quick as they need to be,” Obama said.
The United States exports about $240 billion in goods to Europe each year but imports about $320 billion.
Many of the jobs in Obama’s $447 billion job creation proposal depend on a strong import-export market with Europe.
With unemployment stuck at around 9.2 percent, Obama wants to raise taxes on the wealthy and give tax breaks to employers who hire more workers.
“The income of folks at the top has gone up exponentially over the last couple of decades while the incomes of the middle class have flat lined over the last 15 years,” Obama said.
Republican presidential candidates, such as Rick Perry and Mitt Romney, are skeptical of Obama’s proposal because of the tax increase for the highest income earners. They say it would hurt job creation.
Economists are saying saving the U.S. economy could depend heavily on what European leaders decide in the next few days.
Before they can take decisive action, European leaders must reach agreement.
However, leaders from the most economically powerful countries – such as Germany – risk losing popular support if they make too many concessions to help out weaker neighbor nations, according to economists.
Meanwhile, as the euro loses value on international markets, American investments in Europe are weakening.
Their business losses eventually could mean fewer American jobs.
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