Hiding Europe’s Unpleasant Details

The Wall Street Journal reports:

1.9 trillion euros: European banks’ exposure to EU government debt

With each passing day, it’s getting harder to believe Europe’s banks are in as good shape as their regulators say. That could be a problem for a global economy still struggling to recover from a deep recession.

Less than two months ago, an outfit called the Committee of European Banking Supervisors published stress tests aimed at easing investor concerns that the financial troubles of Greece and other countries would spread to Europe’s banking system. The reassuring result: Only seven out of the 91 banks tested would need to raise added capital in the event of a modest double-dip recession and a sharp drop in the value of Greek, Irish, Portuguese, Spanish and Italian government bonds.

No word yet from Nancy Pelosi ( who is enamored by European-style regulation) on this one.