European Central Bank scrambles to fix economy as U.S. markets boom

European Central Bank scrambles to fix economy as U.S. markets boom

Continuing efforts to pump money into the European economy isn't fixing problems with high unemployment -- and leaders aren't quite sure what to do.

Central banks in Europe are pumping cash into the economy, but no one is quite sure whether all of this is actually doing anything to get the still struggling European economy back on track.

As the U.S. economy has taken off in recent months, the European markets have been lagging behind as leaders continue to easy monetary policy in a desperate bid to jump-star the markets, according to a Reuters report.

Several economic leaders will be meeting this week to talk policy, with the Bank of Japan, Sweden Riksbank, and the U.S. Federal Reserve trying to figure out how to fix the global market problem.

The Fed stopped its quantitative easing program more than a half a year ago as its economy has picked up steam, and it will begin raising interest rates again to stave off inflation later this year — although a bit later than originally expected because of a few economic hiccups.

But the global markets are facing even bigger problems, and no one is quite sure what to do. The outlook for the euro zone has certainly improved in recent months, but it has brought about just modest growth and unemployment remains high, and then there is the elephant in the room: the fragile economic situation of Greece, which threatens to sap the resources of richer European economies like Germany as it runs out of cash necessary to pay its debts to keep it out of default.

Things in Japan aren’t going swimmingly either, as the central bank continues to print money to get out of a deflationary environment that has plagued the island nation for a decade and a half.

In Brazil, the problem is a very different one. Brazil’s central blank is actually facing inflation, despite the fact that their economy is mired in a recession. As a result, Brazil is expected to raise its rates up to 13.25 percent, one of the highest interest rates in the world.

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