Can the US save us from a global recession?

ON THE US

Investors in US markets have an uncertain global macroeconomic environment to contend with - the most recent bout of market volatility being driven by events unfolding in Europe.

At the political level, sovereign-debt ructions have caused both Greece and Italy to change their prime ministers, as these stressed nations grapple with ever-increasing government-bond yields. And corporations have not escaped the eurozone crisis unscathed, either, with the collapse of US derivatives broker MF Global fuelling bearish sentiment. In the US, as in Europe, government measures have yet to yield decisive results. While the Federal Reserve has acknowledged that the eurozone crisis poses a threat to US growth, it has yet to outline any further specific stimulus in response to t...