Mr Berlusconi has been absent from the airwaves for four days because he is dealing with a crisis in his Fininvest business empire (elderly media mogul struggles with corporate crisis, shock).
There is an escape clause to avoid penalties if Europe faces a general shock such as the financial crisis.
Professor Ernst said when people are diagnosed with cancer they are often in shock and have a sense of crisis.
For history to repeat itself in Kazakhstan, however, the shock to the global economy from the 2008 crisis would have to be less severe than many expect.
ECONOMIST: Central Asia and the financial crisis: After the boom | The
In fact, we could be just one supply shock away from a full-blown food crisis that would make the price spikes of 2008 look like a happy memory.
They are reluctant to forgo profitable lending just to protect themselves against the remote chances of a liquidity shock especially when, in a crisis, the central bank is likely to step in with extra cash.
When Asia's financial crisis hits, the company goes into shock and never recovers.
For one thing, even the crisis in Georgia has not been enough to shock the EU into a common position on Russia.
ECONOMIST: Europe frets about its place in a different world order
If, as I mentioned on Friday, the latest EU council has failed to solve the eurozone debt crisis in a sustainable way, what could shock eurozone governments into effective evasive action - or, in a worst case, be the explosion that causes the disintegration of the eurozone?
Heavily indebted companies are also more vulnerable to economic shock and bankruptcy, increasing the risk and magnitude of any future financial crisis or recession.
"The financial market crisis that erupted in August 2007 has developed into the largest financial shock since the Great Depression, " the report says.
More cheerfully, the Reinharts find that once economies start to grow after a crisis they tend not to slide back into recession without suffering some new shock.
If the euro-zone crisis, which is flaring up again, leads to a break-up, the shock-waves will hit Britain.
The news, which was seen as a sign of how devastating the credit crisis has been, even for those with assets once considered relatively low-risk, sent shock waves across the European market.
Mr Obama is by no means alone in urgently wanting more action to stop the crisis in its tracks before it spirals even further out of control, wrecks the European economy and sends shock waves across the Atlantic.
应用推荐