At the moment we are facing a whole collection of difficult to forecast developments from the situation in China and the oil-price crash to the worrying news from some banks in Europe and the US. All of that is linked: Worldwide company debt is high and there is a lot of money in circulation. That is why necessary structural reforms are not being made.

If you live beyond your means and have to restructure as a result, you pay a price.

Britain is economically very closely integrated with its European partner countries. Were these ties to be cut, it would be a huge step backwards for the country and would weaken it considerably. In the era of globalisation, "splendid isolation" is not a smart option.

Greece's debts are all denominated in euros, but it isn't clear who holds how much of those debts. For that reason, the consequences of a national bankruptcy would be incalculable. Greece is just as systemically important as a major bank.

I don't know how many resolutions from the IMF or G-20 we have already written saying that such [financial] reforms are necessary for new growth.

Those who constantly qualify everything and have no opinions of their own are ultimately just as incapable of tolerance.

It's understandable that Europe's Muslims are in a difficult situation, which is partly their own doing and partly not.