Exploding debt, falling currency

Lorenzo Bin-Smaghi, an executive board member of the European Central Bank, accused the UK on Wednesday of devaluing sterling to obtain competitive advantage. Peter Mandelson, the UK business secretary, swore at comments by Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, that the UK is “in a [downward] spiral.” Of the three men, only Schultz was talking any economic sense. Bini-Smaghi alluded to a problem for the eurozone: the marked appreciation of the euro, especially against the pound. But the eurozone owe...