Stronger defences needed: stress testing a eurozone break-up

For a few dollars more

As the financial crisis in Europe deepened over the past 12 months, what had once been unthinkable became the subject of daily speculation: the departure of one or more countries from the euro, joint guarantee of individual sovereign debts, and default by a member of the European Union (EU).

The range of different outcomes is partly a product of the number of actors involved – ranging from the crisis-hit countries and their own domestic political parties to the so-called core governments, the