Dean Baker on the Deflating European Economy and the Failings of Regulators (12/05/11)

New austerity measures in Italy bring the labor minister to tears while US Vice President Joe Biden arrives in Greece and cracks jokes to the president about bringing bailout cash with him. Merkel and Sarkozy are pushing a plan for tighter fiscal union. And some believe this is it, this is the week that will decide the fate of the eurozone, culminating with a summit Friday. Where does this leave the citizens and democracy in the process? Also, MF Global’s bankruptcy and Jon Corzine’s suspected misuse of client cash, US regulators approve a rule to put tighter limits on how brokerage firms use customer money. But can we expect this to rein in the Corzine’s of the world when the Vice President has said in speeches he and the president call up Corzine for policy advice? And is Wall Street pressure keeping a financial transaction tax from being on the table. We speak to economist Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. Also, we bring you musings on the iphone app for the eurozone crisis and the Ferrari pile up.