"I always fall back on FullerMoney's "good governance" principle when thinking long term. It would be interesting how you would apply that principle to the way the EU attempts to solve its financial crisis. In the US crisis, Treasury Secretaries Paulson/Geitner and Fed President Bernanke had the power to act decisively; in the EU they have a "conference" with 27 nations to discuss options that the US can do in a week with the stroke of a pen (or keyboard). Perhaps the EU will get it together in a few years, but is that "good governance?"

"Your opinions are always highly valued."

David Fuller's view Thanks for the feedback and your very good point regarding speed of action and the ability to act decisively in times of crisis.

Euroland has an independent central bank, albeit with a narrow mandate, which can act decisively. However, it does not yet have a single Treasury to work with the ECB. Clearly, the EU had no plan to deal with its current crisis and individual countries have been reluctant to give up sovereignty in terms of fiscal policy. That is changing although it takes time.

Governance often does improve following a serious crisis and I believe that will be true of the EU in this instance. Meanwhile, it remains the world's largest market and it has some very good companies which trade at reasonable valuations, as some of Fullermoney's reviews point out.

I also note that the direction of governance in the US remains a subject of considerable debate. Congress also has the power to act decisively but it is not happening. Many of us fear that deadlock over the important matter of deficit reduction will persist until at least 2013.