Yesterday Switzerland committed to a currency peg to the Euro, and it was described in the more hyperbolic media venues as the first shot of a currency war. Today that war claims it's first casualty. It's being reported that the Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey has resigned.
This is hardly the fall of the Berlin wall. The Swiss don't have much faith in politics and don't attribute much authority to any specific position. They prefer a relatively loose federation and local control. Centralization just isn't their thing. So to lose one president (if you take your cue from the market's lack of reaction) isn't such a big deal.
Rest assured, the political leaders in Italy, Greece, Germany and Spain will not be leaving so gracefully. To my American eyes it looks like they are clinging to their power with all the white knuckled determination they can muster.
Back when we were coping with the Lehman bankruptcy and the Credit crisis, I described it as 'watching a man fall down the stairs in slow motion. Little did I know... he could fall even more slowly than that.
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