The White House on Monday called on the European countries to take more steps to solve the worsening eurozone crisis, saying the markets view the measures being taken so far as insufficient.
"There's no question that markets remain skeptical that the
measures taken thus far are sufficient to secure the recovery in
Europe and remove the risk that the crisis will deepen," White House
spokesman Jay Carney said at a briefing.
"So we obviously believe that more steps need to be taken," he
said.
The spokesman for U.S. President Barack Obama said that the
administration has been discussing with its European counterparts on
the "difficult steps" need to be taken, including "strict stress
tests" for the banks and requirement for them to raise capital,
which were both the measures being taken by the United States during
the 2008-2009 financial crisis.
A recent gloomy job data in the United States and the uncertainty
of the European debt crisis have raised doubts on the recovery of
the U.S. economy. It is critical for Obama, who is locked in a neck-
and-neck race with his Republican presidential rival Mitt Romney, to
prevent the worsening eurozone crisis from dragging the growth in
America and hence, affecting the election.
Days ago, Obama sent Lael Brainard, the Under Secretary of
Treasury for International Affairs, to Greece, Germany, Spain and
France, the four key players in the eurozone crisis. Many believe
that Washington is increasing pressure on the Europeans to take more
decisive measures.
"In his conversations, and obviously the conversations that
Secretary Geithner, as well as Lael Brainard and others, have had
with their counterparts, they've discussed how some of those lessons
that we learned here might be applied in Europe," Carney said.
