The financial news out of Europe continues to be dark, despite a willingness by Germany and some of the major banks to step up to the plate with new capital and capitalization requirements. Everyone looks for signs the crisis is over, but this writer thinks at best it has been pushed off and we can only hope the adults in the room come up with a real solution before the string runs out. Now that Greece wants to have a referendum on whether or not to "accept" conditions imposed on their financial status, it looks like the children are still in charge.

Eastern Europe may be a different problem. Much of the bank capitalization there comes from Western Europe's behemoths, but even they are pulling in their far-flung interests to assure they meet new capital requirements at home.

Of course, all of this is of vital interest to the worldwide pulp and paper industry, for after petroleum, we are probably the most international of businesses. Pulp and paper venture into formerly closed economies faster than most anyone else. Pulp and paper have much to lose if international financial stability wobbles further.