Amid Europe's continuing economic troubles, riots erupted in several nations last month, notably Spain and Greece, as citizens protested radical government efforts to cut spending and raise taxes. Rising debt has damaged the euro currency and pushed many nations into deep recession, high unemployment and widespread poverty. Some experts say Europe's economic woes are holding back economic recovery in the United States by undermining consumer confidence, exports and investments and that the U.S. government should do more to help Europe fix its problems. Otherwise, they warn, a new global economic crisis on the scale of the 2008 crash could hit Europe, the United States and the rest of the world. Other experts argue, however, that it is not in the United States' interest to help rescue the European economy.

Christopher Hack is a London-based freelance writer and economic analyst working for The Economist Intelligence Unit and The Observer and Guardian newspapers, among others. He writes on contemporary events in Britain and Europe and is a former foreign correspondent in Beirut, Lebanon, for the BBC and Time. He earned a Joint Honors degree in politics and economics in 1993 at the University of London.