1、Most European Leaders Agree on Fiscal TreatyBy STEVEN ERLANGER and STEPHEN CASTLEPublished: December 9, 2011 Recommend Twitter Linkedin Sign In to E-Mail Print Single Page Reprints Share o Diggo Reddito Tumblro PermalinkoBRUSSELS European leaders, meeting until the early hours of Friday, agreed to s
2、ign an intergovernmental treaty that would require them to enforce stricter fiscal and financial discipline in their future budgets. But efforts to get unanimity among the 27 members of the European Union, as desired by Germany, failed as Britain and Hungary refused to go along for now. Enlarge This
3、 ImageEric Feferberg/Agence France-Presse Getty ImagesPrime Minister David Cameron of Britain gave a press conference after talks gathering European Union leaders in Brussels, Belgium, early on Friday. Related Economix Blog: Europe Disappoints. Again. (December 8, 2011) Importantly, all 17 members o
4、f the European Union that use the euro agreed to the new treaty, along with six other countries who wish to join the currency union one day. Two countries, the Czech Republic and Sweden, said they would want to talk to their parties and parliaments at home before deciding, said President Nicolas Sar
5、kozy of France, but it seemed unlikely that Sweden would join. Hungary said it wanted to examine the details, leaving Britain isolated. Though not a perfect solution, because it could be seen as institutionalizing a two-speed Europe, the intergovernmental pact could be ratified much more quickly by
6、parliaments than a full treaty amendment. Crucially, the deal was welcomed immediately by the new head of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi. “It is a very good outcome for euro area members and its going to be the basis for a good fiscal compact and more disciplined economic policy in euro are
7、a countries,” Mr. Draghi said early Friday morning. The support of Mr. Draghi and the bank to continue to buy the bonds of troubled large countries like Italy and Spain is crucial to buy time for their economic adjustment and restructuring, to reduce their debt and avoid a collapse of the euro. The
8、outcome was a significant defeat for David Cameron, the British prime minister, who had sought assurances to protect Britains financial services sector in exchange for doing a deal. Mr. Sarkozy said that “David Cameron requested something we all considered unacceptable, a protocol in the treaty allo
9、wing the U.K. to be exempted for a certain number of financial regulations.” Mr. Cameron said, “What was on offer wasnt in British interests, so I didnt agree to it.” He conceded that there were risks with others going ahead to form a separate treaty, but added, “We will insist that the E.U. institu
10、tions, the court and the Commission work for all 27 nations of the E.U.” The European Council president, Herman Van Rompuy, said that in addition, the leaders agreed to provide an additional 200 billion euros to the International Monetary Fund to help increase a “firewall” of money in European bailo
11、ut funds to help cover Italy and Spain. He also said a permanent 500 billion euro European Stability Mechanism would be put into effect a year early, by July 2012, and for a year, would run alongside the existing and temporary 440 billion euro European Financial Stability Facility, thus also increas
12、ing funds for the firewall. The leaders also agreed that private sector lenders to euro zone nations would not automatically face losses, as had been the plan in the event of another future bailout. When Greeces debt was finally restructured, the private sector suffered, making investors more anxiou
13、s about other vulnerable economies. Mr. Sarkozy said that the institutions of the European Union would be able to police the new pact, though Britain may dispute that. Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, who pressed hard for a treaty that would codify and enforce debt limits and central oversight o
14、f national budgets, said the decisions made here will result in increased credibility for the euro zone. “I have always said the 17 states of the euro zone need to win back credibility,” she said. “And I think that this can happen, will happen, with todays decisions.” After the agreement on the trea
15、ty was reached early on Friday morning in Europe, Asian markets remained noncommittal the Nikkei 225 was down about 1.4 percent about where they were before the news. On Thursday, the euro fell against the dollar, and the borrowing costs of the euro regions two most closely watched convalescents, It
16、aly and Spain, shot higher in bond trading. President Obama said on Thursday that the European leaders efforts to reach a long-term “fiscal compact where everybodys playing by the same rules” were “all for the good.” Yet he added, “But theres a short-term crisis that has to be resolved to make sure
17、that markets have confidence that Europe stands behind the euro.” The best hope for providing that shot of confidence has been seen as the European Central Bank. But the banks president, Mr. Draghi, at a news conference in Frankfurt on Thursday, seemed to back away from signals he sent last week tha
18、t a grand bailout bargain might be in the works a big infusion from the central bank in exchange for a commitment to greater fiscal discipline from the European heads of state. On Thursday, Mr. Draghi said that he was “surprised” that a speech he made last week had been widely interpreted as meaning
19、 the central bank stood ready to shore up weak European Union members like Italy and Spain by buying many more of their bonds or to possibly work in concert with the International Monetary Fund. He played down the I.M.F. idea Thursday as too “legally complicated” and said it might violate the spirit
20、 of the euro treatyMany analysts were stunned by what appeared to be Mr. Draghis turnaround, which they said would make it even more crucial for the European heads of state to forge a market-calming master plan at their summit meeting as unlikely as such an outcome is starting to look. Related Econo
21、mix Blog: Europe Disappoints. Again. (December 8, 2011) “While Draghi had opened the door for more E.C.B. support last week, he closed it again today,” Carsten Brzeski, an economist at the Dutch bank ING, wrote in a note to clients. “According to Draghi, it was up to politicians to solve the debt cr
22、isis.” For now, Mr. Draghi appears to be leaving any government bailouts to the heads of state, while focusing the European Central Banks efforts on the less controversial business of keeping money flowing through commercial banks. The main step the central bank took Thursday, which buoyed stock mar
23、kets before Mr. Draghi held his news conference, was to cut its main interest rate to 1 percent, from 1.25 percent. That returned the rate to the record low level that had prevailed from 2009 until April. Mr. Draghi did not rule out the possibility that the rate could go even lower. The central bank
24、 also announced additional measures to aid euro zone banks suffering from a dearth of the short-term lending and to avert a credit squeeze. The European Central Bank said it would start giving commercial banks loans for three years, compared with a maximum of about one year previously. Banks will be
25、 able to borrow as much as they want at the benchmark interest rate. They must provide collateral, but the central bank on Thursday also broadened the range of securities it accepts, which will help banks that have large amounts of assets that are hard to sell. The central bank also eased its requir
26、ements for reserves that banks must maintain, which frees more cash. In a sign of how badly banks need the money, 34 institutions took advantage of a new lower interest rate offered by the European Central Bank in conjunction with other central banks for three-month loans denominated in dollars. Ear
27、lier Thursday, the Bank of England held its benchmark rate steady at a record low 0.5 percent, after the banks governor warned of growing risks for Britains economy from the euro area. Mr. Draghi, who took over at the European Central Bank from Jean-Claude Trichet on Nov. 1, has wasted little time r
28、eversing rate increases that Mr. Trichet oversaw in April and July. Those increases were widely criticized as an overreaction to tentative signs of inflation and may have helped hasten a widespread economic slowdown in Europe. The economy of the 17 countries in the euro currency union is almost stag
29、nant, growing just 0.2 percent in the third quarter, with unemployment at 10.3 percent. Economists expect the euro zone economy to slip into recession early next year if it has not happened already. Declining output makes the debt crisis even worse by cutting tax receipts. The E.C.B. lowered its gro
30、wth projections Thursday, saying that output could fall as much as 0.4 percent next year. Lower interest rates will be particularly welcome in countries like Portugal and Italy, where the debt crisis has pushed up interest rates and made it harder for businesses to get loans. And the cuts will provi
31、de immediate relief to the many homeowners in Ireland and other euro countries who have variable-rate mortgages tied to the central banks rate. But many economists continue to argue that ultimately the European Central Bank will have to intervene more aggressively in the regions government bond mark
32、ets, to prevent borrowing costs for Italy and other countries from becoming so high that they are unable to refinance their debt. As Toni Kelly battled lymphoma, first with a bone marrow transplant and then with brutal rounds of chemotherapy, she worried obsessively that her four-year struggle would
33、 destroy her familys finances. Connect With Us on TwitterFollow NYTNational for breaking news and headlines.Twitter List: Reporters and EditorsEnlarge This ImageJay Paul for The New York TimesLorice L. Ottenbacher, left, at Mass last week, said spiritual and financial concerns were behind her late h
34、usbands decision. Her husband, Doug, refused to consider her pleas to stop pursuing costly therapies. But she knew that after she died, which she did on Sept. 29, there was one way she could keep from adding to the $200,000 in medical debt she would leave behind. Like a growing proportion of America
35、ns, she said she wanted her body to be cremated. “We did everything we could to cut down other costs, and one of the things Toni said was, Lets find out how much it costs to be cremated, ” Mr. Kelly said. “If there was a way we could save even $500 or $1,000, it didnt make a difference. Her major th
36、ing was not ruining the family.” All but taboo in the United States 50 years ago, cremation is now chosen over burial in 41 percent of American deaths, up from 15 percent in 1985, according to the Cremation Association of North America. Economics is clearly one of the factors driving that change. Th
37、e percentage of bodies that are cremated has risen steadily for years, for reasons ranging from spiritual to environmental. But a recent study shows that the increase has accelerated during the downturn, and many funeral home directors say they believe the economy is leading people to look for less
38、expensive options. The disposition of Ms. Kellys remains cost about $1,600, and that total included a death notice, a death certificate and an urn bought online. It was a fraction of the $10,000 to $16,000 that is typically spent on a traditional funeral and burial. Family and friends remembered Ms.
39、 Kelly, a 54-year-old artist, at a simple memorial service at the golf course in Virginia Beach where Mr. Kelly works as an assistant pro and where she liked to walk their dogs. It was the first cremation on her side of the family, Mr. Kelly said. “Neither one of us felt that the body itself was rea
40、lly all that important,” said Mr. Kelly, who raised two sons with his wife during their 28-year marriage. “We had no interest in being put in the ground, no need for a memorial for the whole world to see. Her concern was the financial devastation she was bringing to the family.” Many others share th
41、at concern, according to a national telephone survey of 858 adults conducted last year by the Funeral and Memorial Information Council. It found that one-third of those who chose cremation in 2010 said cost was a primary factor, up from 19 percent in 1990. With the cremation rate rising one-third fa
42、ster than at the middle of the last decade, the cremation association projects it will pass 50 percent by 2017 (still lagging behind Canada and much of Europe and Asia). Although state cremation rates vary widely, from 13 percent in Mississippi to 73 percent in Nevada, every state has experienced an
43、 increase since 2005. Until recently, said Michael W. Nicodemus, president of the cremation association, concerns about cost rarely entered into his discussions about cremation with families at the Hollomon-Brown funeral homes in Virginias Tidewater region, where he is a vice president. The rational
44、e for cremation in the past was more typically that the family plot had become anachronistic in todays transient society and that cremation afforded relatives and friends more time to gather from afar for a memorial service. Today, he said, nearly half of his consultations eventually turn to worries
45、 about money, and the cremation rate at the companys nine funeral homes has risen to 55 percent, up from 35 percent six years ago. “People have lost money in the markets,” Mr. Nicodemus said. “Their retirements arent what they used to be. A lot are living off Social Security.” Some families, he said
46、, have reversed burial plans because life insurance has lapsed or savings have been drained by uninsured medical expenses. “We had six families to see yesterday, and all six were cremations,” Mr. Nicodemus said. “That tells me something.” African-Americans, steeped in the traditions of open-casket f
47、unerals and rousing eulogies, remain the most resistant to cremation, according to surveys. But in the Virginia Tidewater, as elsewhere, even that cultural wall is crumbling.In Tough Times, a Boom in Cremations as a Way to Save MoneyPublished: December 8, 2011 Recommend Twitter Linkedin Sign In to E
48、-Mail Print Single Page Reprints Share o Diggo Reddito Tumblro Permalinko(Page 2 of 2) Kenny Alexander, owner of Metropolitan Funeral Service in Norfolk, Va., said there was enough demand in the areas black community to make him consider buying a crematory, a $125,000 investment. He said 2 or 3 of e
49、very 10 families that come to him now asked for cremations. A decade ago, Mr. Alexander said, he did not even know how to price one. Connect With Us on TwitterFollow NYTNational for breaking news and headlines.Twitter List: Reporters and Editors“Unemployment, coupled with the downturn in the economy, the realities of people losing their savings and not being insured, has certainly caused African-American families to look at cremation in a different light,” Mr. Alexander said. In some instances, he added, families do n
