Eurozone firewall talk fails to quell fears

(Financial Times) -- To listen to many eurozone policymakers, one would imagine all is now well with their two-year long struggle with the sovereign debt crisis.

Progress on plans for a beefed-up "firewall" to bail out distressed countries, which now have Germany's backing, are cited in support.

Not so fast, say the markets. Sure, everyone is agreed that things feel better than they did at the end of last year. But many investors also say that little has changed fundamentally.

A good example of that is the apparent willingness of Germany and Finland to allow the temporary eurozone rescue vehicle, known as the European financial stability facility, to run alongside the soon-to-be-launched permanent one, the European stability mechanism. But a headline lending figure of €940bn for the two soon fizzles out as at least €200bn is already committed and the EFSF's €440bn is likely to end next year. Read More