Between a weaker EUR and Middle-East tensions, Europe faces a very significant (and real) drag on its economic performance. Forget the 'grow our way out of it' or 'believe-me' memes, the crude reality (that we warned about last week) is that the cost of buying spot Brent Crude in Euros is very close to record highs, above 2008 highs and most worryingly, has seen the biggest rise on record in the last two months. For those wondering what the trade-off is to Mario Monti's pointless blustering and scorched-earth hostage tactics at the June 29 Summit, just look at the 'Total' line item, the next time you gas up.
Spot Brent crude priced in Euros - record two-month rise (lower pane) and very near-record high overall...
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Charts: Bloomberg