Spotlight Falls on Europe's Stuttering Economy

As large parts of Europe's economy grind almost to a halt, attention will focus this week on the latest assessments of business confidence in the euro zone and Germany, which has just narrowly avoided a recession. While the United States economy has accelerated and China holds a slower but steady course, euro zone countries have remained sluggish, with overall growth in output slowing to a trickle. "The euro zone is the best part of 20 percent of the global economy," James Knightley, an economist with ING, said. "The longer the stagnation goes on the more Japan-like it becomes." http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/businessNews/~3/9f4QfaETjRA/story01.htm http://www.wochit.com