Power Lunch Power Lunch Europe

French President, Francois Hollande has cast himself as the European leader pushing hardest to forge a growth-oriented “new path” through the euro zone’s grinding debt crisis, pitting him against the austerity-minded German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the New York Times reports.

Walking through his high-ceilinged factory here, explaining the production of sheets of copper, M. Brian O’Shaughnessy comes across as a staunch advocate of manufacturing in America.

Just weeks ago, the idea that Greece would leave the euro zone was almost unthinkable. Now, with Greece’s newly empowered political parties refusing to abide by the terms of the country’s international loan agreement and Europe’s leaders talking tough, that outcome is looking increasingly likely. The NYT reports.

The invasion of the super-rich has a social impact, diluting what is referred to as the “civic” quality of the cities they have adopted as their playgrounds.

In Italy, the art of counterfeiting money — like winemaking, pottery, fabrics, and other fine arts for which Italy is justly famous — is often passed from father to son.

Directors often dole out personal safety perks to ease a chief executive’s tax bill. By classifying the benefits as security measures, the executives typically get a better tax treatment on the services.  It’s a common corporate tax trick. The New York Times reports.

When Lehman Brothers collapsed at the height of the financial crisis, JPMorgan Chase was at the center of the storm. The bank was a major lender to the firm, which filed the biggest bankruptcy in United States history. The NYT reports.

Mitt Romney sought to use the coveted endorsement of Jeb Bush on Wednesday to amplify his call for Republicans to rally behind his candidacy and get on with the mission of ousting President Obama. The NYT reports.

Banks will face stiff penalties and intense public scrutiny if they fail to live up to the standards of a $25 billion mortgage settlement with state and federal authorities, according to court documents filed as part of the deal Monday in federal court in Washington. The NYT reports.

A lead adviser to Greece on its debt deal,  Mitu Gulati, argues that instead of repeated austerity-based bailouts, other European countries should cut a deal directly with their creditors to reduce their debt loads.

Unlike Greece, Portugal is a debtor nation that has done everything that the European Union and the International Monetary Fund have asked it to, in exchange for the 78 billion euro (about $103 billion) bailout Lisbon received last May. The NYT reports.

For all the struggles that Greece has gone through to satisfy its demanding lenders, Europe’s troubles are not going away, the New York Times reports.

Another batch of the riskiest mortgage-backed securities once owned by the American International Group are being auctioned off this week, according to two people familiar with the matter, a sale that would bring the insurance giant’s 2008 meltdown once step closer to a resolution.

Investors are predicting that Portugal will be next in line after Greece to impose losses on bondholders as it struggles to meet the terms of a $103 billion bailout agreement struck with international creditors last May. The New York Times reports.

Hedge funds have been known to use hardball tactics to make money. Now they have come up with a new one: suing Greece in a human rights court to make good on its bond payments.

As Europe’s debt turmoil enters its third year, no clear solutions are yet in sight — despite recent signs that a new lending program by the European Central Bank might be easing pressures.

Stung by souring loans and troubled government bond portfolios, many European banks are being forced by regulators to raise money to build up their cash cushions against future losses.

Hold the condolence cards, but the recession cost the rich. The share of income received by the top 1 percent — that potent symbol of inequality — dropped to 17 percent in 2009 from 23 percent in 2007, according to federal tax data. The New York Times reports.