Europe's Crisis Puts France and Italy in the Spotlight

Europe's economic downturn is following a relatively coherent path. First, it affected some of the eurozone's smallest and most peripheral economies (Greece, Portugal and Ireland). Then it moved to larger economies (Spain, and to a certain extent the Netherlands and Finland). Now it is particularly concentrated in the second- and third-largest economies in the continental bloc, France and Italy. These will be the two key countries to watch in the final months of 2014 and throughout 2015 because the debate about the future of the eurozone will be focused on them.