The Eurozone Crisis in the Coming Months

After Europe's summer break, the eurozone countries will spend the final months of the year attempting to mitigate the effects of the financial crisis and discussing a series of institutional reforms. These debates will accentuate the divide between the financial needs of the countries in the European periphery and the demands of austerity and fiscal discipline of the countries at the European core. The European Central Bank is likely to reprise its role in ameliorating the market pressure on Italy and Spain, and bailout countries Portugal, Greece and Ireland are likely to be given more flexible deficit targets.