US debt crisis less scary than Europe’s

“Debt: The United States races against the clock,” says the French economic daily Les Echos, describing the deadlock between Republicans and Democrats over how to avoid default by the US government. “Most surprising, as seen from Europe, is the attitude of investors towards this US risk,” notes the paper. “While the merest hesitation on the Old Continent sends interest rates soaring and the markets plunging, a possible default by Uncle Sam has, so far, left them indifferent,” it adds.

“The United States benefits from an optimistic ‘bias’, just as there exists a pessimistic ‘bias’ towards Europe,” Les Echos explains, adding that “per capita growth and job creation may be higher on this side of the Atlantic but nobody knows it”. This phenomenon will not be reversed until a political solution is found, the paper says, warning that “the eurozone will cause concern as long as it lacks a coherent and comprehensible steering mechanism”.