"SPIEGEL: So, what was in danger? Just the banks? The euro? The European Union?

Trichet: We are now experiencing severe tensions, which are coming after the events of 2007 – 08. At that time, private institutions and markets were about to collapse completely. That triggered a very bold and comprehensive financial support by governments. And now we see the signature of some governments put into question. This is a problem for almost all industrialised countries. In the G7, the major economies have a yearly deficit of around 10 % of GDP. In the euro area as a whole it averages 7 % of GDP. In this situation with extremely elevated deficits across the globe, the markets have singled out a weak link: Greece. Also taking into account the fact that its statistics were incorrect at one time, market pressure was concentrated there and a drastic adjustment programme was necessary. (...)

SPIEGEL: The general public has gained the impression that the governments pressured the ECB to take this decision. That would be an appalling signal in terms of its independence and credibility.

Trichet: That is ridiculous! We take our decisions completely independently and have a track record of taking positions contrary to those of the Heads of State and Government – in 2004 in refusing to decrease rates, in 2005 in increasing rates against their wishes, and throughout this period in fiercely defending the Stability and Growth Pact including defending it against the German Chancellor of the time. Just who has been weak over the past few months? It was not the ECB. The governments with their high debts were weak."

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"The market will not work effectively with monetary anarchy. Politicization is not an effective alternative. We must commence meaningful dialogue with acceptance of these elementary verities.(...) The most important, and surely the most difficult, step in any meaningful constitutionalization of money is the achievement of general public recognition that the value of the monetary unit is, and is expected to be, stable and, hence, predictable as a parameter for economic transactions. This value must be understood to be outside of and beyond the choice set of any participant in the economy, including members of the political coalitions who make budgetary decisions. The value of money must be categorically separated from the values of goods and services emergent in the marketplace, whether or not these values are politicized."

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"Public finances in the majority of advanced industrial countries are in a worse state today than at any time since the industrial revolution, except for wartime episodes and their immediate aftermath," Willem Buiter, chief economist at Citigroup and former member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, wrote in a recent note on sovereign risk.

Even though the current epicenter of the crisis is focused on the euro zone, the overall fiscal position of the single currency area is stronger than that of the U.S., the U.K. and Japan, he noted.

"Unless there is a radical change of course by those in charge of fiscal policy in the U.S., Japan and the U.K., these countries' sovereigns too will, sooner (in the case of the U.K.) or later (in the case of Japan and the U.S.) be at risk of being tested by the markets," Buiter said.

Ultimately, these countries face the risk of being "denied access to new and roll-over funding, that is, of being faced with a 'sudden stop,'" he warned."

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"La vigie mondiale du climat vacille. Coquille quasi vide, à l' organisation complexe, elle résonne d'âpres enjeux scientifiques et politiques. () Seule certitude : l'ère de la toute-puissance du Giec est bel et bien terminée."

L'analyse de Vincent Lamigeon dans Challenge