Europe still urgently needs rate cuts

It is the relief that Europe's hard-pressed manufacturers have been seeking. In the past few months,...

It is the relief that Europe's hard-pressed manufacturers have been seeking. In the past few months, the euro has started to fall against the dollar. Yet celebrations will be short-lived. The Frankfurt-based European Central Bank (ECB) appears to have decided that a weaker euro is an excuse to keep interest rates at their current level of 2%. That is a mistake. The fall in the value of the currency will not be enough to boost the flagging economy of the euro area. A cut in borrowing costs is still urgently needed. There is no question that the rapid rise of the euro over the past two year...